When it comes to keeping campus clean, it’s often a case of students helping students.

Student custodians assist full-time Building Services workers with janitorial work in many different campus locations, helping to clean and attend restrooms, vacuuming, mopping floors and maintaining general cleanliness.

Students work in DuSable, Reavis and Graham Halls, residence halls, Huskie Stadium and various other places on campus, working up to 20 hours per week, said Brian Hart, assistant superintendent of Building Services.

“We have various shifts to ensure that our students have the flexibility to fit work around their class schedule,” Hart said. “There is also weekend coverage, as well.”

When on the job, student workers encounter many of the same challenges facing professional building service workers.

“The pool broke at Gabel Hall; it was intense,” said Martin Messmer, a senior geology major and student custodian since fall 2004. “I showed up to work and they said, ‘Go to Gabel Hall,’ and I saw three inches of water. It was the light that broke at the bottom of the pool. If there was a drain it would have been helpful, but it was clogged, so the water went straight into the learning center. All I did that night was clean the carpet.”

A number of student athletes also work as custodians. Britt Davis, NIU wide receiver and a senior corporate communication major, works with Building Services because he wanted a job on campus for the income, he said.

“We are extremely lucky to have a good group of students in the 2007-08 school year,” Hart said. “We have individuals who are self-motivated, able to work unsupervised and in an efficient manner.”