Campus Planning and Operations

September 19, 2024

Starting in October, Facilities Services is changing custodial services for office spaces and workstations, reflecting the department's recently reduced staffing levels.  Office space cleaning, currently performed once per week, will be done monthly going forward. Office space trash/recycling, currently picked up once every weekday, will be picked up twice monthly going forward.  We advise that food waste be disposed of in kitchen areas. The scope and schedule for building office cleaning and trash/recycling pick up will be posted on the Facilities Services website by the end of September.

For additional cleaning, service requests can be submitted (e.g., due to a special event or an accident).  For additional trash disposal, a bin will be set up in every building for office occupants.

There will be no change in the schedule for cleaning and trash/recycling pick up for non-office spaces including, for example:  residence halls; common spaces like lobbies and kitchens; building core spaces like restrooms and circulation; shared spaces like classrooms, study spaces, and conference/meeting rooms; specific-use spaces like chapels, galleries, labs, and studios. 

August 20, 2024

The Campus Planning and Operations division is diligently preparing the campus to welcome our students back for the new academic year.  This summer has also been a time of transition with both organizational and service changes resulting from the recent budget reductions.  Most of the changes are internal to the division, but I am highlighting the following changes as they may have an impact on our campus partners with regard to points of contact, location of Ops teams, service levels, and charges.  The division organization chart is attached for further reference. 

• The Campus Card Office and Transportation Services teams relocated over the summer from Kutz Hall in upper campus to the Epstein building with Facilities Administration.
• University Services (including our card office, dining finances, transportation management, and the oversight of the bookstore, laundry, mailroom, and print services) merged with Business Operations (including our financial administration, work order processing, and the stockroom) to become the new Administration and Campus Services department, led by Sue Scannell (sscannell@brandeis.edu).
• Our Sustainability Office has been eliminated unfortunately. Nevertheless, sustainability standards and practices will continue through the ongoing efforts of all division departments. For example, the new residence hall is being designed to Passive House energy standards, regional sourcing for campus food service has increased over the past two years, and there continues to be reduced pesticide use in grounds caretaking.
• Due to the elimination of staff positions, there will be changes in services provided by both the Custodial and University Events teams starting in fall semester. For example, office cleaning will be less frequent, but no less than monthly and office trash removal will be the responsibility of office occupants (centralized collection bins will be provided).  Events sponsored by external groups may be limited to scheduling during the summer months.  Details will be posted on the division website later this month; however, for information sooner, contact Lori Kabel (lorikabel@brandeis.edu) regarding custodial service or Jon Petitt regarding events (jpetitt@brandeis.edu). 
• The Central Heating Plant team is now part of the Facilities Services department (including custodial services, grounds and fleet management, and operations & maintenance) led by Lori Kabel (lorikabel@brandeis.edu).
• Kory Laznick (korylaznick@brandeis.edu), general manager for Brandeis Hospitality (dining), now reports directly to me (lstanley@brandeis.edu) as a key member of our Campus Planning & Operations leadership team.
• Mike McGarry (mmcgarry@brandeis.edu) is now the direct point of contact for Energy Management (e.g., energy-related initiatives, geothermal, utilities) in addition to Capital Programs (project management).

I expect to discover service gaps through the fall semester that may require tweaking of the organizational and service changes in Campus Planning & Operations.  My team and I appreciate your understanding and patience as we do our best as a key service provider to the Brandeis community.

Sincerely,

Lois Stanley, PhD

VP, Campus Planning & Operations

June 26, 2024

The Campus Card Office is moving from their current location in Kutz Hall to Epstein Hall starting Monday July 1.

If you have any questions, please contact the campus card office.

May 30, 2024

Student Summer Meal Plans

• Bridge Plan 1, May 15 (Dinner) - June 2 (Lunch) $576.0
• Full Summer, June 2 (Dinner) - August 9 (Lunch) $2,176.0
• Summer Session 1, June 2 (Dinner) - July 7 (Lunch) $1,120.0
• Summer Session 2, July 7 (Dinner) - August 9 (Lunch) $1,056.0
• Bridge Plan 2, August 9 (Dinner) - August 24 (Dinner) $512.0
• Daily Rate $32.00

Faculty & Staff Meal Plans

• 30 Block Plan $360.00, $12.00 per meal
• 15 Block Plan $215.00, $14.33 per meal

Purchase Faculty & Staff Meal Plans here

Door Rates Effective 5/20/2024

• Breakfast $13.00 plus applicable tax
• Lunch $18.00 plus applicable tax
• Dinner $19.25 plus applicable tax
• Brunch $18.00 plus applicable tax

Check on daily meal offerings by visiting What's Open

May 30, 2024

Summer hours of operation beginning Saturday, June 1, 2024

SHERMAN TRADITIONAL

Weekdays

• Breakfast: 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
• Lunch: 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Dinner: 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

 Weekends and Holidays

• Brunch: 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Dinner: 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

SHERMAN KOSHER

Weekdays (Monday – Thursday)

• Breakfast: 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
• Lunch: 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Dinner: 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

 Fridays

• Breakfast: 8 a.m. – 10 a.m.
• Lunch: 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Shabbat Dinner by Reservation Only, covered by meal plan if applicable and headcount due by close of business on the Wednesday preceding each Friday. Meals are boxed and available for pick-up from Sherman beginning at 5 p.m.

 Saturdays

• Shabbat Lunch: 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Shabbat Third Meal: 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

 Sundays and Holidays

• Brunch: 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Dinner: 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

EINSTEINS

• Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
• Closed Weekends and Holidays

May 30, 2024

The Department of Facilities Services will perform its annual electrical shutdown on Saturday, June 1, and Sunday, June 2 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. In the past, this shutdown was held in August but for weather reasons, we are moving it to June.

In addition, this year due to the switch gear needing maintenance, the entire campus will go into a shutdown. This work allows the Department of Facilities to exercise and test equipment vital to the electrical infrastructure supporting Brandeis University.

Only the following buildings will be affected: On Sat, June 1 - All buildings on campus will be down (power and AC) except Epstein, Foster Mods, and the Sports Complex (Gosman & Linsey). - Village will have power but the Card swipes for the door will be down. It will have AC but cannot be controlled (so it may fluctuate some).

On Sun, June 2 - Ridgewood Complex, Rosenthal Quad, Zivs, Volen, Admissions, Sachar, Feldberg, Athletic Fields, Information Booth, Administration (Berstein-Marcus/Gryzmish/Irving) and Slosberg will be down for a 2nd day. Please contact Facilities Services at 781-736-8500 for more information.

May 2, 2024

Due to severe staffing shortage, University Events is extending its scaled black-out period beyond Commencement through June 14. This extension is to ensure adequate planning and resources are available for the already scheduled events. During the black-out period, the UE team will not be able to support additional events other than those that are mission critical to the institution, including all events managed by the Special Projects team. UE event support typically includes scheduling of spaces, coordination of university support services (dining, facilities, MTS), rental and delivery of furniture or materials, event design, and timing or flow. Some events may take place during the black-out period without UE support, however. Campus facilities such as classrooms or multi-purposes spaces can be available for as-is space reservations, meaning that no additional services (custodial, catering, AV support, or furniture rentals/setup) are required as part of the reservation with University Events. If you have any questions, please contact university events or Lois Stanley

April 8, 2024

March 15, 2024

April begins the shoulder months for heating/cooling. This is the time when temperatures range between 40- and 70-degrees Fahrenheit. Cooler mornings followed by warmer afternoons make maintaining temperature comfort in our facilities a challenge. 

Most of the campus operates on a dual HVAC system. This means our system has to either be in heating mode or cooling mode and it can't not easily change between the two. It takes Facilities Services about 5 weeks to transfer from heating to cooling mode. Currently, we are in “heating” season but we will be switching to cooling mode starting April 1^st.

During April and the beginning of May, there will be days when your office/room temperature is not as warm, or cool, as you want it to be. We ask that everyone dress in layers to accommodate this. We also suggest using operable windows when the weather outside is more suitable to your liking.    

We understand that at times this may be uncomfortable but we ask for your patience during these New England shoulder months and this switch-over. On April 1^st, facilities will start to switch over to cooling first in the Science Buildings (~3 weeks), then will move to the Residence Halls and Academic Buildings.  The complete switchover should be done the first week in May.  

Please see the Building Temperature Policy more information.

February 22, 2024

Kosher offerings in Sherman now include service for Shabbat lunch and Saturday evening meal. The serving times are as follows:

• Sunday: Brunch 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Dinner 5 – 9 p.m.
• Monday - Thursday: Breakfast 7 – 10 a.m., Lunch 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., Dinner 5 – 9 p.m.
• Friday: Breakfast 7 – 10 a.m., Lunch 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• Friday Shabbat Dinner (Boxed): 5 – 8 p.m.
• Saturday Lunch: 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
• Saturday Dinner: 3 – 5 p.m.

A hot Dinner (post Sabbath) is available until the start of Daylight Savings Time on March 10. See below for specific times. On all dates, end of service coincides with the dining room closing at 8 p.m.

• 2/24/24 - Hot Service Begins at 6:25 p.m.
• 3/2/24 - Hot Service Begins at 6:30 p.m.
• 3/9/24 - Hot Service Begins at 6:40 p.m.

With this enhancement, service times for the Friday dinner and Saturday lunch are now in tandem with non-kosher serving times. Lastly, the Luria and Levine Ross conference rooms in Hassenfeld are available to kosher keeping students as a location to gather for their lunch meal. Additional information can be found on the Brandeis Hospitality Kosher Dining webpage.

Campus Operations & Capital Programs has been a Data Science Internal Internship (DSII) partner since its inception and has employed 5 students over 8 semesters since the Spring of 2021.  These students have helped plan, develop, test and implement several new tools that leverage space, building, and energy data to create visualizations, patterns, and trends that can help inform capital program decision making and operational activities.

Tim Fan, an undergraduate in Computer Science, joined Campus Operations as an intern during the Summer of 2023 and worked for 2 semesters on improving the accuracy, functionality, and visualizations of our intern-developed building electrical data tool.  Tim’s first semester was spent primarily on automating the file sharing, script running, and long-term hosting aspects of the tool, which involved setting up network connections and working with Brandeis ITS on configuring the site and the file transfer.  Previously, the tool was hosted on the current intern’s own machine and then on a cloud-based site, needing manual upload and download of new data and resulting analysis.  What we have now requires only one 1 manual step and is safely within Brandeis’ IT security.  In the Fall of 2023, Tim was able to focus his time on the machine learning and predictive functions of the tool, adding complexities to the existing model with variables such as operating hours and building specific heating and cooling equipment.  Throughout both semesters, Tim continued to update, tweak, and build upon the Tableau visualization file, which he has automatically pulling the newest database into colorized, curated dashboards that will ultimately be the most valuable deliverable from this effort.  The dashboards will be where administrators and operators will go to understand patterns of energy uses, changes or deviations in them, and direct capital and operational decisions and projects informed by that.

February 8, 2024

The Department of Facilities Services will perform its annual electrical shutdown on Saturday, June 1, and Sunday, June 2 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. In the past, this shutdown was held in August but for weather reasons, we are moving it to June.

In addition, this year due to the switch gear needing maintenance, the entire campus will go into a shutdown. This work allows the Department of Facilities to exercise and test equipment vital to the electrical infrastructure supporting Brandeis University.

Only the following buildings will be affected:

Saturday, June 1 - All buildings on campus will be down (power and AC) except Epstein, Foster Mods, and the Sports Complex (Gosman & Linsey). - Village will have power but the Card swipes for the door will be down. It will have AC but cannot be controlled (so it may fluctuate some).

Sunday, June 2 - Ridgewood complex, Rosenthal Quad, Zivs, Volen, Admissions, Sachar, Feldberg, Athletic fields, Info Booth, Administration (Berstein-Marcus/Gryzmish/Irving) and Slosberg will be down for a 2nd day. Please contact Facilities Services at 781-736-8500 for more information.

January 25, 2024

Brandeis' Facilities Services is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for everyone. Control of keys is integral to this security program.  Therefore to improve our key control program, 3 new key forms have been created; Key Request, Key Return and Key Lost.  These forms can be found on the Facilities Services website.

The major changes include:

1. Updated Key Request Forms - Identifies a single person to a single uniquely identified key which is placed in a new software system. This will allow us to know exactly what keys everyone has and we can identify a key if it is lost. 
2. New Key Returns and Lost Key Forms. All keys must be returned to Facilities Services when someone leaves Brandeis or no longer needs a key. A lost form also is needed.  This allows us to keep our software updated.   
3. Updated Cost. Please review the website for cost.
4. Key Audits.  Facilities Services will audit everyone's keys each year to ensure our key software is correct and users have the physical keys assigned to them. You will be contacted the month your audit is due.
5. Soft Start Immediately - New key forms must be used immediately and audits have begun. Facilities Services will work with each department/group to ensure proper management of keys under unique or department circumstances.  Super User identification will also take place in the next few months.  A full start will begin 1 July 2024.
6. Card Keys/Readers are not affected by this change. Public Safety remains the owner of the key cards. Students still need to go to DCL for resident hall key issues.

If you have any questions, please call Facilities Services at 781-736-8500

December 15, 2023

The university’s 73rd commencement exercises will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2024 in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center and will feature an undergraduate and graduate ceremony, each featuring a speaker, student speaker, remarks from University leadership and individual recognition by name of each graduate who crosses the stage.

December 15, 2023

The week leading up to Commencement is rich with celebration - recognizing special achievements and gathering together before the next phase of life, career, and pursuit of passions.

Following the inaugural Celebratory Reception program last year, the University Events will again coordinate the program. The options will be enhanced this year with additional flexibility based on feedback following the events of May 2023.

We have already reserved spaces to hold Celebratory Receptions across campus the week leading into Commencement and will coordinate with our university partners to ensure your event is a success. To notify University Events that your department is interested in hosting a celebratory reception please view the Commencement Celebratory Reception Planning Guide (web link coming) and then complete the Celebratory Reception request/registration form before January 26. We will collect responses through January 26 and carefully evaluate and assign spaces. In the inaugural year we were able to accommodate most programs with either their first choice for date & time or venue – many received top choice for both.

September 30, 2023

The symbolic sculpture created by former Guggenheim Fellow Elbert Weinberg, was commissioned by a devoted patron of the university, Mrs. Leah Bennett Cline of Chestnut Hill, MA, in memory of her husband Harry.  The sculpture is located at the entrance to the Berlin Chapel.

As the sculpture has been on display outside of the Berlin Chapel for many years, elemental weathering had taken its toll, thereby requiring much needed restoration and refurbishment. It was decided that said restoration work should occur prior to and in preparation for the 75^th celebration of Brandeis University. Sincere Metal Works, the metal work artists who design and restore metal art, undertook the task of restoring “Jacob Wrestling with an Angel.” The sculpture is now back in its original location, restored to its former condition, for all to see and appreciate.

September 4, 2023

Brandeis' hillside location creates many natural accessibility issues. As part of the school's continuing efforts to improve accessibility and inclusivity, these walkways will provide safe and convenient access to the Music Center and Counseling Center.

April 8, 2024

On May 19 Brandeis will recognize and celebrate the achievements of graduates at the 73rd Commencement Exercises. Staff not already scheduled to work Commencement should respond on this form by April 12 and indicate your availability for either or both the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony in the morning and the Graduate Commencement ceremony in the afternoon. Non-exempt staff will be paid for their assignments and exempt staff who volunteer will be eligible for one day off per ceremony worked, up to two, to be coordinated with their manager and used by the end of the calendar year. An opportunity for students to serve as paid Commencement Ushers is posted in Workday.

Information regarding ceremonies, schedules, and answers to frequently asked questions is available on the Commencement page. University Events is grateful for your support in this enormous celebratory production! Please direct any questions you have to commencement@brandeis.edu.