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Major changes to the University’s Cleansweep program this year markedly improved efforts to clear residence halls of trash and discarded student belongings, according to administrators — and enabled the program to continue fulfilling its charitable mission.
Created in 1992 by the Alumni Association, Cleansweep utilized volunteers to go through residence halls at the end of the academic year and collect items students — graduating seniors in particular — left behind, such as clothing, furniture, appliances, towels and linens, and even food. These items were then donated to area churches and social service agencies.
This year, however, Cleansweep was renamed “BC Clean,” and instead of relying on volunteers, the program put the onus on seniors to remove unwanted stuff from their rooms. The result was a multi-faceted success, according to George Arey, director of the Office of Residential Life, which oversees the program with Facilities Management: residence hall rooms were cleaned in record time, plenty of items were donated to charity, and — not so incidentally — students did their part to uphold institutional values.
“Contrary to concerns in the University community, Cleansweep was modified, not eliminated,” explained Arey. “Boston College believes in the concept of ‘men and women for others’ as something that should be reflected in all aspects of the University — and that includes showing respect for the Housekeeping staff and the campus they work so hard to maintain.”
Cleansweep’s aims were laudable and its volunteers worked hard, said Arey, but invariably too many seniors simply viewed the program as license to dump their leftovers, usable or not. Anything that couldn’t be taken by Cleansweep had to be left for Housekeeping to dispose of, and this impeded and delayed — and increased the cost of — clean-up operations in the residence halls.
Arey and Facilities Services Director Michael Jednak set out to correct the problem through the instituting of a $500 fine for any room that had not been cleared of belongings by 8 p.m. Commencement Day. Through BC Clean, seniors were given clear and concise instructions on their responsibilities for moving out, and made aware of opportunities to donate used items. BC also contracted with a local moving service, Piece by Piece, to be available to assist students if they so desired.
From Arey and Jednak’s point of view, BC Clean was an overwhelming success. Where in the past cleaning up residence halls took several days after Commencement — with as many as 60 housekeepers working 12-hour days — this year the task was completed less than 24 hours after the first strains of “Pomp and Circumstances” sounded in Alumni Stadium. BC saw a savings of some $48,000 in straight labor costs, more time to prepare facilities for summer operations, according to Jednak, and a decrease in staff “burn-out” and injuries.
While the prospect of a $500 fine undoubtedly spurred seniors to be more conscientious, Arey points out that only 31 of nearly 2,200 students were cited for failing to clean up. He and Jednak believe that BC Clean’s marketing and awareness campaigns were critical in spurring students’ civic-mindedness.
“The students responded very well,” said Arey. “I think they genuinely wanted to be compliant about cleaning up, but with everything that’s going on around Commencement it’s easy to lose track. So we wanted to ensure they understood what was expected of them, how easy it was to clean up — and that effect of their actions can be felt throughout, and beyond BC.”
To cut down on logistics and campus traffic, the University streamlined donations of reusable items to two agencies: Household Goods Recycling of Massachusetts (HGRM) — which distributes, or donates proceeds from sales of, the items to various charitable and service organizations — and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Two hundred and 88 large items and additional 557 large boxes of items were donated to HGRM, while 14,200 pounds of clothes and 1,100 pounds of food went to the society.
Planning is already in the works for the 2012 BC Clean, and the participating departments envision further refinements and increased communication to students, staff and faculty, among other things.
“It was a true collaborative effort, and took a lot of work to put together,” said Jednak. “But we’re very encouraged by the degree of enthusiasm and the cooperation we saw this year, and that bodes well for the future.”