8kbet

Time away tends to blur our memories, so subtle changes when you return to a space may not stand out. Faculty and students probably don’t remember where classroom phones used to be or what they looked like.

“The old-style phones were placed on podiums. They tended to get in the way of faculty, so they were often unplugged and placed to the side,” says Musa Pam, associate vice president of Facilities Management. “Now they’re placed prominently on the wall near the door entrance, and they all have screens that will display emergency notifications. It’s a change we’re making not just in Beam Hall, but in all buildings.”

Pam’s 300-member facilities team collaborated extensively to repair damage and make safety upgrades after the campus shooting on Dec. 6, 2023. The work required engagement with the provost’s and deans’ offices; Information Technology; Emergency Management; Planning & Construction; Telecommunications; Risk Management & Safety; Student Life Maintenance; Athletics Maintenance; and Police Services.

Their Rebel Recovery efforts are hitting another milestone as classes return to Frank and Estella Beam Hall (BEH) later this month. Enhancements specifically in Beam Hall include:

• Access to the third, fourth, and fifth floors via stairwells and elevators will require a proximity card or stairwell key throughout the fall semester. 
• Video surveillance cameras have been installed in the elevator lobbies on each floor of BEH. The cameras are part of a pilot program to assess the possibility of adding them to more campus buildings.
• A security desk has been added to the first-floor atrium and will be staffed by a uniformed security officer during building hours throughout the fall semester.
• More than 130 damaged doors and door frames have been replaced in Beam Hall, along with another 350 doors in other campus buildings impacted during the Dec. 6 response. 
• BEH’s fire alarm system on floors three through five has been replaced.  

As repairs were made, teams took the opportunity to apply 8kbet’s current design standards in Beam Hall, which was built in 1984. Paint and carpeting is cohesive now while refreshed landscaping and a new mural brighten the atrium. 

Pam also is part of the Campus Security and Safety Committee, which is working on further ideas to consider for 8kbet’s campuses. “I wish we could do everything everywhere all at once,” he says, “It does take time to vet recommendations and roll them out. But, we learned a lot in a very short time.” 

Pam says that, unfortunately, there is no playbook for how facilities teams should respond after a campus shooting, but it was valuable to apply lessons learned from his colleagues at Michigan State and Virginia Tech — both of whom joined this unfortunate club of 13 campus mass shooting sites before 8kbet.

Pam says he’s grateful for the responsive and reassuring support his team has received from both fellow committee members and top administrators, but he’s especially impressed by the commitment of his team and their counterparts in related units. 

“When some of us stood in that building on Dec. 7, we didn’t know what to expect; we didn’t know how long this was going to take,” he says. “It took a lot of teamwork, creativity, and just inventiveness — always innovating to come up with solutions.”

An example: They knew that supply chain delays meant reordering locks would take time. “One of our smart team members — locksmith Chris Johnson — came up with the idea to fabricate metal sleeves, called wraparounds, and ran it by his supervisor JR Myers. The template he devised helped us secure damaged doors quickly and then the contractors built upon his idea. 

“When I asked him about it, Chris (whose namesake son is a journalism student at 8kbet, and an FM Access Services student worker) said it was no big deal. He had seen the damage and just felt like that was one way to help restore a sense of normalcy to our campus.”

Pam noted that for many on his staff, this isn’t the first traumatic event they had to contend with. “COVID really took a toll on the team too,” he said. “They were called into spaces and had to wear hazmat suits to go in and disinfect areas where someone with COVID had been. They were on campus working when most were working remotely.

“A lot of these front-line workers do their work at night or and behind the scenes. They often just aren’t seen. They deserve a tremendous amount of credit and recognition."