Even amongst the quiet while most students are away from campus for the summer, the work continues in Housing, especially as USC prepares to welcome roughly 9,000 on-campus residents in the next month.

In addition to hosting conferences on campus and providing housing for first-year orientation, summer is a key time for upkeep, updates and upgrades in the residence halls.

“Summer is hectic. This is our busy time. Most people think that when the students are here, we’re busiest. But we have to transform these buildings before move-in,” says Rod Howell, Director of Facility Operations. “We have new students and new parents coming, who are dropping their kids off for the first time. They want to be sure they’re going somewhere that’s going to be clean, that’s going to be efficient and that’s going to be safe for them.“

Howell’s team of nearly 160 staff members includes custodial workers, zone area maintenance, electricians, carpenters, painters, locksmiths, plumbers, HVAC technicians and more. Altogether, they assist residents across close to 30 buildings around the Columbia campus, including a handful of townhouses and homes owned by the university.

But when residents leave campus for the summer, Howell says the focus shifts to preparing for their return and ensuring that all buildings are up to his own standard for what the University of South Carolina should look like for any new families or visitors.

“We promote this as being their home, and that’s what we want them to feel like when they open that door for the first time,” he says. “So we’re cleaning, we’re painting and we’re checking to make sure all of the HVAC systems work not just for hot summers but for the cold winters also.”

The summer means a lot of preventative maintenance for the residence halls. This year, multiple buildings are seeing appliance upgrades, roof repairs or replacements, HVAC updates and even new lighting put in. That’s in addition to ongoing beautification work to add new life to elevator doors, windows and welcome desks in six communities, part of a broader division initiative that includes new window and wall signage at both Russell House and the Center for Health and Well-Being.

Once work is completed for the summer and students move in, Howell says the work shifts but doesn’t stop. As buildings go from mostly dormant for three months to full of students, they work to make sure routine maintenence is complete in all buildings. 

Howell and his team will also keep track of longer term needs they notice this summer that can become next summer’s key projects. Many of those plans will be made this fall, with room to add projects to the list throughout the school year.

With no summer break or even lightened load, it is a true team effort for the Facility Operations team. Howell has been working at USC for nine years, and in his current role for the last six, after earning a bachelor’s degree in retail management from USC and time working in the private sector. However, he says the culture of accountability and hard work in his department has been here far longer.

“When you experience things you plan for them accordingly. They’ve done it even before I got here, and we continue to do it and improve upon it as the years go. We have an experienced staff. I just need to make sure they have everything in place, all of the equipment, the materials, the tools, the supplies and what they need,” Howell says. “I work for my team, and I want to make sure those folks feel appreciated.”

Howell encourages students and staff to engage with Housing staff members they see around campus and thank them for their hard work preparing campus for the fall.

Early move-in for the fall semester is August 8, and regular move-in will take place in one day on August 16. Residents can submit any maintenance requests here once they get settled in on campus.