Clean Campus

Read below for insight into seasonal clean-up efforts that help keep campus safe, clean, and functional

Fall Foliage

The beautiful fall foliage paints the scene around campus with the shades of the season. Fiery red, golden yellow, Orange, and Green are visible everywhere as the beautiful Maple, Sweetgum, Gingko, Serviceberry, Dogwood, and other trees display their seasonal allure. The more mature trees on the West side of campus, especially those near Peck Hall, JUB, and the President’s Lawn, provide some picturesque views for those who venture through this area of campus during the fall.  

As beautiful as the foliage may be, it also creates a lot of maintenance issues. Leaves left on the ground for a long time will damage the turf as it reduces the sunlight and oxygen needed to survive. Leaves will also accumulate in stairwells and road drains that can create issues during rain events. Keeping sidewalks cleared can be a tough task during the autumn months as well.

Our Grounds Department will spend the fall season making sure leaves on campus are kept under control. We use our mowers to cut leaves into tiny pieces so they don't smother and damage the turf. The small pieces of leaves will decompose over time and will become nutrients that feed the turf. We use blowers to clean out landscape beds and from under trees so that our mowers can get to the leaves. We may use a zero‐turn mower to bag the leaves in certain areas such as the Hall of Fame or Alumni House where we have a lot of leaves that fall on a small area. Our blowers blow off sidewalks every morning so people arriving to campus will have clear sidewalks to walk on. Our street sweeper runs every day making sure that leaves do not accumulate on roads or clog storm drains. We clean out stairwells on days when it’s raining or too wet to cut leaves. This is a continual process until the leaves are all gone from the trees.

I’m often asked what our Grounds crew does in the winter months after mowing season ends. My answer usually begins with talking about the level of effort that it takes to keep up with leaves falling. The process of keeping campus cleaned up from leaves takes several months and we typically don’t finish until mid‐December at the earliest. Some trees, especially some varieties of Oaks, will hold onto some amount of leaves until January or February. During the peak of leaves falling, it is virtually impossible to keep areas cleared. We will clean an area during the morning and by mid‐afternoon, so many leaves have fallen that it looks like we haven’t even been there. We have to stay on top of it though or the leaves will get so thick that it really slows down the process and can even clog up or damage our equipment.  We strive to make sure our campus is Clean & Green year round. During the autumn season we don’t have as much Green as it has given way to the Red, Yellow, and Orange of fall. That means most days are dedicated to a variety of leaf clean‐up activities. While you enjoy the views and foliage this fall, know that your Grounds Crew is working hard to make sure our campus remains Safe, Clean, and Functional.

Jason W. Young Grounds
Greenhouse, & Motor Pool Manager

Last updated 12/6/2023

Snow Removal

The holiday season is here and the temperatures are starting to feel like it as well. Our Grounds team has been busy with leaf removal from campus and we are also getting ready for what is a real 4‐letter word in our department, “SNOW”!

Snow removal is always a difficult task to accomplish. We have been fortunate for several winters and only received a few minimal snow events. However, some years have produced winter weather systems that brought us snow and ice events. This has forced the university to close on several different occasions. Our Grounds crew was still here though, working hard during that time to clear campus as much as possible. We have even had crews here during the middle of the night, fighting the winter precipitation as it came down, to get Murphy Center ready to host events such as the TSSAA basketball championships.

Ice is a much tougher element for us to manage. Many north facing sides of buildings do not receive much sun during the winter and makes removing ice extremely difficult. Sometimes the ice may still be present in these areas with temperatures reaching into the 50’s. We also have to deal with a large number of downed trees and limbs from any ice accumulation.

Snow Removal Plan:

We have three snowplows with broom attachments for use on our campus hardscapes. We use shovels and brooms to clear ADA ramps and we put down ice melt on the ramps and near entrances to buildings. We use a backhoe to put down sand at intersections to help with traction. We don’t have any equipment to brine the streets or parking lots and we don’t have any type of street plow to clear parking lots. Depending on timing and conditions, we will start the snow removal process as soon as possible after the snow starts to stick to the hardscape or as soon as possible when the snowfall starts to taper off. One crew begins putting out sand at intersections, a second crew starts working ADA ramps and building entrances, and another crew starts plowing sidewalks. We plow from dorms to cafeterias first so that students who live on campus will be able to get food. The next area of focus is the major sidewalks servicing into campus such as the large sidewalk that runs from Greek Row to JUB, as well as sidewalks leading into campus from parking lots. As we go, we try to clear at least one entry into buildings (usually the main entrance). We then work on secondary sidewalks and secondary entrances. If there are any events scheduled on campus, we will make every effort to have that area clear before the event begins. If snow is falling while we are working, we will start the entire process over again, but we may not make it to many secondary areas until the snowfall has ceased. Keep in mind that you may not be able to take your normal route to a building, but there will almost always be a clear path to get you there. We strive to keep campus cleared of snow and ice during winter weather, but it is a tough task. Our crew usually has to come in before the main roads have been treated and work long hours in difficult conditions. The cold temperatures are usually hard on our equipment and it’s no small feat just to keep our plows running. With snow and ice, we may not be able to do much about being “Green,” but will do our best to keep it “Clean.”

Jason W. Young Grounds
Greenhouse, & Motor Pool Manager

Last updated 12/6/2023