Hi OPP,
It's hard to believe summer is coming to a close. With that, though, brings exciting times ahead. It won’t be long until the football team is back on the field and students are back on campus. I always love the energy that fall brings and the start of the new school year.
Hopefully, you’ve had a chance to get outside and spend time with family this summer. We’ve spent a lot of time with summer swim team and now that fall weather is coming and doe licenses have been issued (didn’t get one), that means archery season is just around the corner. Now’s the time to start hanging your tree stands and checking your trail cameras! Please be safe as you get out in the woods to look for those secret spots. I know it’s sometimes awkward, but I always use a harness in the tree…you should too!
A big thank you and shoutout to all those who came together to support Sherri Ebeling, a member of our OPP family, during her time in need. After Sherri unfortunately lost her home to a fire last year, some of our own offered expertise and helped build her a new home, which she moved into in June. This is a shining example of living our core value of community! See more from Sam Bertolino in the "Cheers" section below.
I spent the day with the directors during a staff retreat on July 26 over at the stadium. I wanted to share my appreciation to each of them as they always display a commitment to excellence and dedication to Penn State. We have a great leadership team here that is engaged and supportive. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to them.
Lastly, at the end of July, we welcomed Margaret McMinn, who will be serving as our interim Human Resources Strategic Partner. We’re happy to have Margaret on board to serve the OPP family! A huge thank you and congratulations to Christina Gatehouse as she transitions to a great opportunity with Intercollegiate Athletics. As many of you who know Christina, you know she is a Penn State superfan and now working in the job of her dreams…congrats, Christina!
Cheers,
Bill
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Provide Excellent Facilities Services for Penn State
OPP Mission
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Integrity | Respect | Responsibility | Discovery |
Excellence | Community
OPP Values
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Save the Date!
Penn State Football OPP Night vs. Buffalo
Sept. 7, 2019, 7:30 p.m.
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J
ordan Evans accepted a position as a custodial worker. First day: July 8
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David Frazier accepted a position as a refrigeration technician. First day: July 15
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T
rey Miller
accepted a position as marketing communications specialist. First day: July 15
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Arnel Ocampo accepted a position as a custodial worker. First day: July 15
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Christian Callahan accepted a position as a janitorial worker. First day: July 22
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Jeffrey Diehl accepted a position as a maintenance worker. First day: July 22
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Linda Wilson accepted a position as a facilities contract administration specialist. First day: July 22
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Christopher Rice accepted a position as a planner estimator. First day: July 29
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Brandi Bloom accepted a position as an administrative support assistant. First day: July 29
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Derek Stoecklein accepted a position as a facilities project coordinator. First day: July 29
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Tyriece Boone accepted a position as a janitorial worker. First day: July 29
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Margaret McMinn accepted a position as interim human resources strategic partner. First day: July 29
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Ting Zhou accepted a position as a design engineer. First day: Aug. 5
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Brian Douty accepted a position as an electronics technician, fire and security systems. First day: Aug. 5
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Cheers
Lending a Hand
Corey Lucas
captured this photo of three OPP employees giving an NSO parent a helping hand.
From left:
Ken Henry
,
George Ebeling
and
Toby Newman
.
Collaboration in Construction
Rachel Prinkey
, project manager, wrote to
Andrew Gutberlet
,
Jeff Kokoskie
and
Bob Puzak
with a shoutout:
Your staff quietly and efficiently saved Penn State several hundred thousand dollars last week. The Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) contractor discovered during demo of the trickling filters that the local landfills would only accept a limited number of trucks per day of the aggregate fill. This could have resulted in an extensive delay or a costly logistics change to the WRF project.
Mike Brown
connected with
Travis Scanlan
on an emerging geotechnical issues discovered at the Ag Digester project. They were facing extensive costs with the need to truck in fill.
Joe Swanderski
and
Garry Beck
stepped in quickly to develop a plan to reuse aggregate.
Steve Weyandt
responded and certified the material as clean fill.
The foundation for this success was set by the ingenuity of
Dave Swisher
. He had already explored the opportunity for reuse of the aggregate with DEP and had the necessary approvals in place. It did not appear that timing would work but the unforeseen sub grade issues at the Ag Digestor project made this a good investment.
The speed and efficiency of this work, impacting multiple mobilized crews, was impressive. Their willingness to reach across divisions and project sites collaboratively made the difference. Contractor Haskell and Mascaro are also to be commended for their participation. More than 50 truck loads of fill have been delivered with another 50 anticipated as demo continues.
This work avoided delay at the WRF project, returned six figures of tipping fees held in the WRF contingency, and offset unforeseen contingency costs at the Ag Digestor project. I am extremely grateful for their ability to think outside the box and work dynamically with other crews and contractors. Their commitment to do the right thing for our projects is clear and I wanted to pass on my respect for the work they do.
Excellent Service
Rob Gavlock
, facilities supervisor, passed along kudos for excellent work:
I wanted to pass along some names of tech service employees that have been recognized by the building occupants when I was walking through as providing excellent service recently.
Pasquerilla Spiritual Center:
Mark Wayne Fisher
,
Amy Wheeler
and
Melinda Kling
(As a team, they have been outstanding.)
Music:
Lynn Daughenbaugh
Standout Work
Don Wallace
, chilled water supervisor, wrote to thank
Mike Saupp
:
T
hank you to Mike Saupp for always doing an outstanding job waxing all of the floors, hallways, etc. at the West Campus Chiller Plant. He does great work!
"One Team"
Sam Bertolino
, manager of design services, wrote in support of several OPP employees who came together to help a coworker:
Several OPP folks volunteered to help build a new house for
Sherri Ebeling
. Sherri is a compliance specialist in Design Services. Last year Sherri's house burned down; her house was a total loss - fortunately nobody was injured.
Mike Rupert
,
Pete Caporuscio
,
Rich Manning
,
Jim Rohan
, and
Mark Gates
helped build Sherri a new home and provided building code and engineering expertise. Together, and individually, they demonstrate Penn State's "Community" value as well as the "One Team" spirit of OPP. Sherri and her family moved into her new house in June 2019.
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“It gave me a new perspective on what I was already doing at work. It improved my work because it gave me a broader understanding.”
Chris Halbig, a systems administrator with
OPP,
started his college journey 17 years ago. He
graduated
with a degree in information sciences and technology Aug. 10.
Read the story via Penn State News.
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Meet Mark Miller
Mark Miller
began his role as assistant vice president for the Office of Physical Plant on June 17. A retired U.S. Air Force officer, Miller was previously associate vice president for facilities management at the University of Nebraska.
Check out the Q&A below to learn more about Mark:
What do the core values mean to you?
Simply put, core values are our compass…they keep us moving in the right direction at all times!
What are your goals in this role?
It’s kind of early into the position to really have had the chance to formulate any real measurable goals at this time. However, my immediate goal is to quickly see how I can bring my skills and past experience forward to best fit within OPP. One goal that I always separate from any sort of measurable metric is to be the best possible mentor and coach for those folks just getting started or possibly at a midpoint in their career in facilities. They are the future of the University and of the facilities management profession so I take that goal, or more appropriately “responsibility,” very seriously. That was one of the experiences I enjoyed the most in the Air Force…being able to be a leader, mentor and coach to the troops.
What was your path to Penn State and this position?
I’m a graduate of the University of Wyoming with an undergraduate degree in civil and architectural engineering. While at Wyoming, I was a sprinter on the track team my first three years there then ended up on the cycling team my last three years in school (my dad likes to say I crammed four years of college into six). After graduation I started working for the Air Force as a civilian and also received a reserve commission. Being both an AF civilian and reserve officer I had, in effect, two careers going at once. I was lucky enough to have some really outstanding opportunities within the Air Force like working at the Air Force Academy in civil engineering and also coaching the cycling team, serving as a Civil Engineer Squadron Commander for the 302d Civil Engineer Squadron at Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs, serving as the Chief of Facilities for Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), serving as an IMA and the CE Squadron Commander at FE Warren AFB while the commander was deployed for a year, and spending a number of years on the staff at Air Force Space Command both as a civilian and in uniform as the Chief for Plans and Programs. After I retired from the Air Force in 2012, I initially held the position as Director of Facilities Planning and Construction at the University of Nebraska. There were a number of opportunities at UNL and I moved into the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Planning, Design and Construction in 2014 and then in 2017 was also appointed as the Associate Vice President for Facilities Management for the University of Nebraska system.
What made OPP an appealing place to work for you?
When taking a look at career opportunities outside of the University of Nebraska, what always impressed me with Penn State was the quality of the folks I had the opportunity to meet at Big Ten and Friends leadership functions, at APPA and SCUP. Granted, Penn State is an enormous institution with world class academics, research and athletics, so that was of course a draw as was the more rural location…however, the outstanding leadership PSU has in David Gray and Bill, the financial and human resources that OPP has available, the quality and professionalism of all of the OPP employees combined with the fact that the folks here are just genuinely nice people make Penn State a unique place and opportunity.
What are your hobbies outside of work?
I have number of hobbies outside of work but usually not enough time to fit them all in. As weather allows, I really like to get on the bike as much as possible…both road bike as well as the mountain bike so looking forward to doing some gravel rides here in central PA. I also like to hike and play golf. While it was really difficult to fit in schedule-wise when I was in Lincoln due to the drive back to CO, I really enjoying skiing and would like to get up to ski a few times this winter. I shoot skeet and trap competitively as well as action handguns…so, weekends are usually too short trying to get in all I’d like to do. During the week I also try to play the guitar for a little bit each night as well as read for an hour.
What do you want the employees of OPP to know about you?
I’m here to make you successful…stop in and chat, my doors usually open, let me know how I can help!
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Solar Success
In September, Penn State and Lightsource BP will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the development of 70 megawatts of large-scale offsite solar to support the University's Strategic Plan, which cites stewardship of the planet's resources as a key priority.
“This project is a win for Penn State, a win for Pennsylvania and a win for the environment,” said Rob Cooper, senior director of Energy and Engineering in the Penn State Office of Physical Plant. “Among the many benefits of this significant investment in solar-based electric generation include cost savings, lower greenhouse gas emissions in support of Penn State’s aggressive sustainability goals, economic development with job creation and income for host communities through development of the Pennsylvania solar market.”
The project will provide 25% of Penn State’s state-wide electricity requirements over a 25-year term. This development will enable the university to achieve its goal of a 35% greenhouse gas reduction by 2020, while saving millions of dollars on electricity bills and providing long-term budget certainty.
The solar project's development will help lower Penn State's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the equivalent of 57,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, the equivalent of taking 15,250 internal combustion engine vehicles off the road.
One of the largest in the state, the project is comprised of over 150,000 solar panels installed across three locations, encompassing approximately 500 acres of land in Franklin County, outside of Chambersburg, and near Penn State’s Mont Alto campus. The project will be 100% financed, built, maintained and operated by Lightsource BP – construction is expected to be completed by summer 2020.
To ensure Penn State’s selected project would not impact land with high biodiversity value, the University requested that applicants, including Lightsource BP, use a mapping tool available from the non-profit The Nature Conservancy (TNC), which creates scores for potential impact on lands that are Resilient and Connected Landscape, lands which are a high priority for conservation. Lightsource BP confirmed that their sites have low-to-average scores for these potential impacts.
This commitment to ensuring from the start that solar projects are not developed on lands that should be conserved for biodiversity and climate change resilience makes Penn State’s project a national leader that TNC hopes other utility-scale solar projects will also adopt in the future.
Lightsource BP also agreed to construct the facility in a regenerative fashion, meaning steps are being taken not only to minimize damage to the ecosystem on the land but also to improve soil health and create wildlife habitat. In this way, if years from now the solar array was to be removed, the land would still be usable for other purposes.
In addition to helping conserve the land, Penn State and Lightsource BP included terms in the PPA to provide greater opportunities for both community and university engagement. The team is creating a guide to developing a regenerative project, which the University can use in teaching and engaging external communities, furthering Penn State’s land-grant mission to serve the broader community.
The solar array will become a living laboratory for students to explore and develop practical real-world experience in designing utility solar projects that help conserve the environment. Additionally, Lightsource BP will host Penn State student interns, who will work with Lightsource BP and/or University faculty on research and activities related to the solar facilities.
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Communications Corner
I've met many of you already but still have a lot to go! I'm
Trey Miller, the new marketing communications specialist for OPP. I'm thrilled to be a part of the team and it's already evident after just a couple of weeks on the job that this is a great place to be.
I'm here to help. My goal is to highlight all of the great people at OPP and the work they do to keep Penn State going on a daily basis, with a focus on our core values, through stories, website updates, social media, video and more.
With that said, I can't do it without your help. If you or someone you know is doing great work, if there's a photo opportunity somewhere I should be aware of, or if you have an update for the digital signage/website, please don't hesitate to reach out at
twm5101@psu.edu. Or, even better, poke your head into 213 OPP! I look forward to meeting you all soon.
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Diversity & Inclusion Insight
OPP Diversity and Inclusion monthly Lunch and Learn series:
OPP Senior Leadership and the Diversity and Inclusion team have spent the past year exploring basic diversity and inclusion concepts with interactive monthly presentations. Now it’s time to share the knowledge gained with a broader OPP audience. These Lunch and Learn sessions, held over the lunch hour (12-1 p.m.) will explore topics that help us effectively navigate our diverse workplace and communities. The Lunch and Learns will also be a chance to further explore and demonstrate support for the Penn State Values, specifically those of Respect, Discovery and Community. An email will be sent in the near future with the session topics. Please click the links below to register:
For a list of diversity and inclusion events at Penn State and the surrounding community,
click here.
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Service Permits
If you notice any abuse of service permit use, please share that information as soon as possible with Luke Anderson (
lma133@psu.edu) and/or Dave Dorman Dorman (
djd6@psu.edu) in Transportation Services so they can investigate and take action, if necessary.
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In Case of Emergency
If you haven't done so already, it is important that you update your Emergency Contacts in Workday:
- Visit Workday
- Click the "Personal Information" icon
- Click "Emergency Contacts"
- Click "Edit"
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Spot the Problem
The Spotted Lanternfly (SLF) is an invasive insect that has spread throughout southeastern Pennsylvania since its discovery in Berks County in 2014. This insect has the potential to greatly impact agricultural crops in Pennsylvania including grapes, hops, and hardwoods.
To help slow the spread of the SLF, on May 26, 2018 the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture implemented an Order of Quarantine for the Spotted Lanternfly (Quarantine). The order applies to all businesses that travel within, into, or out of the Quarantine Zone, including Penn State.
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Car Commotion
Researchers in the Graduate Program in Acoustics are looking for participants for a
study related to transportation noise
.
The experiment will take approximately 1.25-1.5 hours of your time. The experiment will consist of listening to various transportation sounds (such as aircraft flyovers and vehicle passes) and you will be asked to rate each test signal on two scales. The signals will be played at a controlled volume. The compensation for your voluntary participation is $15 (in the form of a gift card) and a chance to win a $50 gift card (odds are about 1 in 40).
In order to participate you must:
1) Be between 31 and 70 years of age (we have met the quota for volunteers age 30 and below);
2) Have a hearing threshold of 35 dB HL or better (this will be assessed at the start of your testing time);
3) Not have participated in Task 1 (Spring 2018) or Task 2 (Fall 2018) of the Aircraft Study conducted by Nick Ortega
4) Have not lived near a windmill or a mine for any time longer than a year
Please contact
Jonathan Broyles
(at
jmb1134@psu.edu
) if you would like more information or have any other questions.
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Tour of the Water Treatment Plant with
David Gray in late July. From left:
Mark Miller (assistant vice president),
David Gray (senior vice president for Finance and Business/treasurer),
Bill Sitzabee (associate vice president),
Jim Hosgood (supervisor, water services)
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Project manager
Chad Spackman
offered guests information about the completed improvements made to the College Heights School at an open house held at the facility Aug. 8. Penn State invited residents from the College Heights neighborhood to tour the building, view some before and after photos, and ask questions about the project.
Image: Patrick Mansell, Penn State
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