As Morey Mossovitz, assistant athletics director of facilities and event operations at Syracuse University, sat down to discuss the finer details of his job, his phone rang three times before he silenced it. It was a typical work day for Mossovitz, which meant organizing maintenance projects, meeting with Chief Facilities Officer Peter Sala in the Carrier Dome and overseeing the daily operations of the Joseph and Shawn Lampe Athletic Complex.

Twenty years ago, the practice fields and stadiums near South Campus were grouped together under one name. Since, the Lampe Athletic Complex has developed into the primary training grounds for SU athletes including but not limited to: Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center, Ensley Athletic Center, Manley Field House, Roy Simmons Sr. Coaches Center, J.S. Coyne Stadium and SU Soccer Stadium.

“Lampe is a very busy facility,” Mary Pat Grzymala, associate director of the Physical Plant, said. “There’s a lot of student-athletes going in out all day. Any area that has a lot of traffic will have issues.”

Over the years, Mossovitz, Sala and other administrators have worked to implement new systems that better serve student-athletes. In May 2016, Sala introduced a new system — Campus Facilities and Administrative Services — that changed the way the university handles maintenance.

“(The old system) was somewhat inefficient,” Mossovitz said. “The service has really improved for us. We’re able to address things quicker.”

SU Athletics does not have its own maintenance staff, so it relies on the university’s resources to deal with custodial and structural issues at Lampe. Prior to the implementation of CFAS, all campus maintenance was handled through a zone system, Grzymala said. The administrative and academic areas were designated into four zones: North, West, East and Perimeter.

Each unit had its own manager and a set of staff members that handled maintenance. Many, including Mossovitz, thought the zone system didn’t work as well as it could’ve. Lampe was in Perimeter zone and Mossovitz was the coordinator. Plumbing, Mossovitz said, is another issue that needs constant attention that the old system wasn’t conducive to fixing.

“We all became one organization,” Grzymala said. “(Physical Plant) centralized and eliminated the zones. We have created a bigger, stronger, workforce.”

CFAS went operational on May 25, 2016, according to a press release, and it emphasized the ease in which requests could be processed. The organizations now under the Physical Plant umbrella include planning, design and construction, along with FIXit.

Instead of having a plumber or a painter for each zone, a group of workers wait around until needed. For example, Gryzmala said, a 20-room painting project that would take two painters months to complete now could be done in days by a larger group of painters.

A central dispatch is located at the Physical Plant office and from there, tasks can be delegated around campus. When an event is scheduled, Mossovitz, the facility officer, can contact Physical Plant and request the appropriate staff.

In the next handful of years, Sala will look to bring CFAS to handheld devices, allowing administrators like Mossovitz to make personnel or maintenance requests from a smartphone or tablet.

“It’s really improved,” Mossovitz said. “The campus as a whole is seeing improvement and I think (Lampe) is getting that benefit too.”

Published on October 2, 2017 at 9:27 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez