BMCC Campus Planning and Facilities Teams Tackle COVID-19 Pandemic Head On

Since mid-February, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused our country to make significant adjustments in our daily lives. For colleges, including Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY), the adjustments have included moving courses to distance learning, working remotely from home, and taking significant measures to keep the campus clean and safe.

While spraying, wiping and disinfecting have been some of his team’s primary duties, Jorge E. Yafar, assistant vice president for Campus Planning and Facilities, says the pandemic has affected his staff on more levels than he expected.

Yafar says currently BMCC has approximately 65 percent of its essential staff reporting to campus. The other 35 percent has been directly or indirectly impacted by the health crisis and are unable to come to work. Because of this, Yafar says he and his team have made adjustments to support staff members while continuing to keep BMCC operational.

“For those team members still reporting to work we have developed a modified schedule that combines 60 percent onsite and 40 percent at home training,” Yafar says. “This approach aims at minimizing overall exposure by lowering density, commuting and offering greater flexibility to manage the overall impact of this crisis in our daily lives.”

With the reduced staffing, BMCC is able to prioritize the maintenance of the limited areas that are open, and to continue supporting the college community, including the very critical distribution areas at 2 South and 2 North on main campus.

“We are extremely fortunate to have in our team, a dedicated and committed group of members at every level, that in addition to being on campus performing their regularly assigned tasks,” Yafar says, “they have also volunteered to assist with the necessary setups and logistics for the distribution of payroll, food and computers. The custodial team—and the tradespeople, plumbers, carpenters and electricians, the entire Facilities Management and Operations crew—prides itself on always being ready.”

Being ready to work has been vital when facing the challenges that COVID-19 has presented to BMCC and its community.

“This pandemic has had a very unbiased impact in all of our lives in a very short time, and at an incredible speed we had to adjust and try to adapt to a complete new set of circumstances,” Yafar says. “Imagine dealing with all that and still having to report to work. It’s not easy, but that is what every single essential staff member does on a regular basis, making numerous sacrifices.”

“Many of our essential staff have vulnerable family members living with them and are very concerned for their safety, as we have been told we all need to stay home to stop the spread and save lives,” Yafar says. “Although we have equipped every staff member with adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for their level of exposure, they still have to go out, get on a train or bus and make the daily trip from and to home.”

Yafar says he and his team perform similar routines when they get home from work. They tell their loved ones to stay away until they are cleared of anything that can compromise their safety.

“There are of course many personal and particular situations that make the commitment of coming to work even more challenging,” Yafar says. “Some of us are more fortunate and do not have to take those additional challenges into account, but a vast majority of our team members do, and that is what makes their commitment to support our institution even more valuable and appreciated.”

In the midst of this global crisis, Yafar says he is extremely fortunate and grateful to his team and offers an enormous “thank you.”

“All of the superintendents and managers, from the Buildings and Grounds team and the lieutenants and sergeants in Public Safety, to the individual trades and peace officers, continue to be dedicated to their job,” Yafar says. “Our custodial team members have been the champions during this crisis, and they have been the most consistent team in coming to work every day with the same courage and desire to keep us all safe.”

“At the helm of these two teams are two exceptional leaders, Chief Admin. Superintendent Eric Lugo and Director Michael Korn. Without their leadership and genuine commitment, we would be dealing with a very different set of circumstances,” Yafar says. “Our dedicated and hands-on EHS officer, Michael Spath has been enormously helpful during this crisis by developing and implementing the necessary protocols to keep us all well-informed and safe.”

While his team has demonstrated their hard work and dedication, Yafar says the support and leadership from BMCC’s Interim President Karrin Wilks has provided the clear guidance necessary to effectively handle this crisis.

“I whole heartily need to express my gratitude to Interim President Wilks,” Yafar says, “whose understanding of critical issues at hand have allowed our teams to perform with great latitude and clear guidance when necessary.”