A day in the life of an FGCU maintenance technician
- Laurie D. Babcock
- July 12, 2024
- Faculty and Staff
- Contributors: Jessica Piland and Laurie Babcock, Photos | Chris Noonan and Laurie Babcock, Video
5 – minute read
At 8 o’clock in the morning, John Bramlett can usually be found kneeling next to the pool between Eagles’ Landing and the Ackert Community Center in North Lake Village, one of three residential complexes at Florida Gulf Coast University. On a sunny day in May, he’s already tested the water quality in the West Lake Village pool and spa and is doing the same here.
“The calcium doesn’t change much,” he says and notes that one of the skimmers has a leak he’ll need to repair. One problem can create another if unchecked — and his whole job is to fix things.
The South Bend, Indiana, native moved to Lee County in 1988 and worked maintenance jobs in resorts, a hospital and a bowling alley before joining FGCU in 2003. Bramlett is a maintenance technician in Housing and Residence Life. The broad title reflects the fact that much of his job falls under “other duties as assigned” based on his wide-ranging work experience.
It’s often the unsung workers of an organization who keep things running smoothly. The daily routine of housing maintenance staff is one part of the university-wide effort ensuring residential halls remain a safe and welcoming environment for residents and their guests.
After checking the pool’s filter and pressure gauges, Bramlett climbs into the driver’s seat of his gas-fueled golf cart. It’s not as pretty as the battery-operated ones seen elsewhere on campus, but it’s fast and gets him to his shop behind a North Lake Village laundry room. He hits the garage door opener and cool air whooshes out as he drives the cart in.
His summer student staff of four waits for him in the air-conditioned shop. They work 29 hours weekly in exchange for a stipend and summer housing.
Bramlett’s lead maintenance assistant, Kevin Herrera, an international student from El Salvador, calls their primary job responsibility “triage,” comparing an emergency room nurse’s job to their task of assessing repair and replacement needs in 500 North Lake Village apartments. They’ll spend the summer moving furniture, adjusting beds, replacing window blinds and performing air conditioning, electrical and plumbing maintenance.
“I like that I’ll have some handyman skills when I buy a home of my own,” Herrera says.
Bramlett’s first task of the day for the maintenance assistants is retrieving window screens for sorting into two categories: repairable or trash heap. They ask how to tell the difference. “You’ll know,” he assures them.
“John is the go-to guy if anything breaks down in housing,” says Ron Dalton, who oversees FGCU’s three residential communities as director for maintenance operations.
For around 12 weeks each summer, Bramlett and other housing maintenance staff manage their workload and that of their student staff while overseeing work done by custodial, flooring, painting, electrical and plumbing contractors. They’ll work around summer housing residents, conference attendees and summer campers. And they’ll do it all before the August move-in day, just a few days before the first day of fall classes.
The 15 full-time housing maintenance staff and 10-20 student workers respond to more than 9,000 work orders every academic year, according to Dalton. They understand they are working in the residents’ homes-away-from-homes.
“That takes a special ability — to make sure our residents trust and are comfortable with our staff entering their rooms to make repairs,” Dalton says.
As the locksmith for 500 North Lake Village and 144 West Lake Village apartments, Bramlett ensures the security of every unit.
After he changes the locks in three apartments, he addresses a work order for an ant issue, easily fixed with some caulking. He heads to the fire pit behind The Boardwalk dining facility.
Paying no attention to its panoramic views of Lake Como, he runs through a daily safety check. He spots a broken window blind and makes a mental note of the building to address it later.
Back in his shop, he double-checks the window screens his student workers identified as trash. What will he do with the screens in the “keep” pile?
“If you’re careful, you can bend them back in shape,” he says. “I’ll hang onto them. Just in case.”
He likes this hands-on kind of work. Would he ever want a management job?
“Nooooooo,” Bramlett says decisively. For him, having to sit through meetings is a much worse fate than spending half his workday in the hot Florida sun.
“I got AC,” he jokes, referring to the lack of doors on his golf cart.
Besides, every day brings an opportunity to apply his extensive practical skills, keeping his part of campus running smoothly.