Fast ways to strengthen infection prevention on your campus. See real results in 30 days.
Picture this:
You’re a facilities manager at a higher education institution. It’s the middle of the semester. Your residence halls are full. Lecture halls are packed. And the dining and rec spaces never really slow down.
At the same time, you’re heading into the part of the year when respiratory illnesses usually start to climb.
No one expects you to stop every cold or flu bug from hitting your campus. But you know that every wave of illness still lands on your desk in some way — often via questions from the administration about how well all the shared spaces are being cleaned and maintained.
Tracking by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that in the U.S., flu season typically ramps up in the fall and often peaks between December and February, with a higher impact on the same age group that fills your classrooms and residence halls.1
Are you prepared for this? Plenty of colleges and universities are still tightening their plans for outbreaks and respiratory season, so it’s fair to say some campuses aren’t as ready as they’d like to be when flu and other viruses stop by for a visit.
If that notion sounds familiar, you probably don’t have the time or budget for a complete reset of your cleaning program. You need moves that you can put into place immediately and feel confident reporting on a month from now.
That’s where this 30-day infection-prevention plan comes in. With a few focused changes, you can better protect students, professors and staff. And as a bonus, you’ll be able to show your leadership how your campus hygiene program is making a difference.
Cleaning for health, not only for appearance.
For a long time, success in higher education facilities was measured by how things looked and smelled. Shiny floors, streak-free glass and “fresh” restrooms were the standard, and if your campus passed the eye test, most people assumed everything was under control.
But in a post-Covid world, that bar isn’t high enough. Now you’re cleaning for health, not only for appearance, which means thinking about where germs can hide on a walkthrough and focusing on the surfaces and routines that actually help reduce the spread of germs. That includes high-touch spots in residence halls and study spaces, the way people wash and sanitize their hands, and whether your team has a clear, consistent plan for infection prevention instead of a collection of habits.
Let’s delve into the moves that support this change in cleaning philosophy. Let’s explore the steps you can put into place over the next 30 days, so you’re not only keeping your campus looking clean but also keeping the people in it healthier, too.
