Leverett House Drops Dorm Crew and Outsources Cleaning

After a semester of infrequent and unpredictable cleanings, bathrooms are finally looking presentable in Leverett House--but the dirty work is not being done by Dorm Crew.

Instead, the House has enlisted the services of UNICCO--a nationwide maintenance and janitorial company--to supplement Dorm Crew in its F and G towers. Leverett's two Dorm Crew workers will continue to clean bathrooms in McKinlock Hall.

UNICCO began its work in Leverett on Dec. 21.

An e-mail from House Master Howard Georgi informed residents of the new service.

Leverett resident Melissa B. Coffey '01, said that after UNICCO began cleaning bathrooms, "most people noticed a big difference."

She said that she has no problem with the use of an outside cleaning service. "It's fine, I guess, as long as someone's cleaning the bathrooms."

With UNICCO, Leverett residents can expect to have their bathrooms cleaned regularly--at least once a week.

The four non-Harvard workers will clean F tower every Tuesday and G tower every Wednesday.

Matthew Stec, Leverett House superintendent, said Dorm Crew's lack of manpower forced him to seek outside help.

"This all came about because student's bathrooms weren't getting cleaned," he said.

Stec also said that if Dorm Crew were to receive an influx of workers, they would again be Leverett's primary cleaning source.

Since the beginning of the fall semester, Dorm Crew has suffered from a shortage of workers, said Robert Wolfreys, Dorm Crew's supervisor. Though there have been shortages in the past, "the effect is far more dramatic this year," he said.

Wolfreys said there were several reasons why students are looking elsewhere for jobs.

"I think it's a combination of [the financial aid increase] and higher-paid job opportunities for students," he said.

Wolfreys also said that there are more student organizations now than ever before, taking up more and more of prospective Dorm Crew members' time.

"Our work force is dependent on students wanting to work," he said.

Both Wolfreys and Stec said that the outsourcing of bathroom janitorial work in Leverett may lead to similar measures in other upper class houses, especially given that Dorm Crew's lacks workers campus-wide.

Quincy House Superintendent Ronald W. Levesque said that the House had begun informal discussions about how to best clean its bathrooms.

"We're still in a talking stage," Levesque said.

Winthrop House Superintendent David Simms said that there were no plans to seek an outside cleaning service for the House.