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I'll miss you, Winship!
-Ben Fest (2015)
Greetings everyone,
The transition to the new VOIP phone systems is underway. Before phones are installed there is a bit of remediation work to be done on many of our data outlets. A group from ITS is currently going through our rooms/offices to make adjustments to data outlets as needed. This will happen over the next several working days.
The next step will be the deployment of the new phone sets, and I will let you all know as soon as I have solid dates on that. It will be in the coming weeks. This process may cause a bit of disturbance in your normal routine, but please bear with us as we work through this required changeover. Please expect that these teams will be accessing your office whether you are present or not. In some cases furniture may have to be slightly moved in order to access your data jack. If you know yours is blocked, and you are concerned about anyone else moving your things, then please be proactive and clear the area in front of your data jack on your own.
Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.
Thank you for your attention,
Ben
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Associate
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Greetings Winship,
I regret to inform you that the freight elevator is not functioning. A part has completely failed and will have to be repaired or re-ordered. The only estimate I have so far is that it should be up and running next week. I will keep you updated when I have more solid information, but please plan on the elevator being down for about a week. We have asked Tejas Elevator Services to put a "RUSH" on our request, and they have said they will do their utmost to get it up and running as soon as possible.
Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.
Best,
Ben Fest
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Associate
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Greetings Winship,
Some upgrades to our emergency power system are being installed in the basement. As a result, various emergency power circuits are going down intermittently. These should all be back online by the end of the day. Some key spaces where power has gone down include the main central stairwell by the main office and the eastern stairwell over near 2.180, 1.172, and B.204. Additionally, the fire panel at the front of the building is beeping. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
While we do not expect any outages to non-emergency systems, I would still advise you to save any open work regularly on your computer just in case a circuit in your office or workspace goes down. Please let me know if this does occur so I can notify project managers.
Thank you for your patience while we improve our emergency systems,
Ben Fest
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Associate
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Greetings Winship,
We now have an Emergency Communications System installed in The Winship Building. This system will enable UT Police to broadcast emergency messages in our building when needed.
Please note that on the first Wednesday of every month this system will deliver a test message just after the outdoor siren testing that happens every month.
Thanks to UT for installing this system and making us all a little bit safer!
Have a great day,
Ben Fest
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Associate
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Greetings Everyone,
This summer our Custodial Services team has been stripping and waxing our hallway and classroom floors for us - as they do every summer. I received a gentle complaint from the crew leader that a floor they waxed two nights ago on the second floor was already scratched when they returned to the building last night. They've asked me to ask you, then tenants, to be careful when moving heavy objects around the building. We should always be using carts and/or hand–trucks rather than scraping things along the floor. We all know that I am the one often lugging things around, so I am taking this request to heart as well.
If you have a need to move heavy objects between spaces in the building, then please let me know in advance and I will try and make 1 or 2 hand trucks available for you to use.
Thank you all for your attention and considerations.
All the best,
Ben Fest
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Associate
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Good afternoon everyone,
Please be advised that the long-awaited "Basement Egress Project" will begin this Friday, 5/23/14 in the basement of Winship. There will be a fire system work crew on site on Friday preparing the area for an abatement team that will do some demolition in WIN B.204 on Saturday and Sunday. No one will be able to access WIN B.204 this weekend while abatement is in process.
Starting next week the work crews from Warden Construction will be below the OBT and in WIN B.204 through the completion of the project. The ultimate end date for the project is the start of classes in the fall, 8/27/14. However, the contractor has expressed to me that he expects the major construction to be complete by 8/1/14. They allow extra time for unforeseen circumstances.
Please work with me if you have questions or concerns throughout this project.
Best,
Ben
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Associate
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Greetings faculty and instructors,
Please note that The Winship Building will be closed on the weekends and every weekday after 5pm for the summer as of 5/5/14. If you have scheduled activities during those times when the building will be closed, then access could be a problem and I encourage you to check in with me sooner rather than later if you need accommodation.
For final exams – By my record, we only have 1 evening final exam scheduled during the official exam week. That is for Charles Anderson's course, and the exam is from 7pm to 10pm on Saturday, 5/10/14. I have arranged for a building monitor for that evening. However, if you are not Charles and you have a final exam that will happen when the building is closed, then I am not aware of you and you should contact me immediately so we can discuss.
Please contact me with questions or concerns.
Best,
Ben Fest
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Associate
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Greetings Winship,
A project to improve the fire, life, and safety features of The F. L. Winship Drama Building will begin (after several delays) this summer. The tentative start date is 5/19/14.
The Basement Egress Project is a construction and renovation project that is being managed by UT's Project Management and Construction Services (PMCS) under the direction of UT's Fire Safety Office. The goal is to provide a second means of egress to our basement tenants in case of an emergency evacuation.
Essentially, we are going to build a dedicated hallway that will connect the vending area in the basement (WIN B.104) to the eastern stairwell of the building (1.1S2). The hallway will run south to north in front of the costume stock cage in WIN B.106, then it will veer right (eastward) through WIN B.204 to connect to the east stairwell. The construction work will therefore be below The Oscar Brockett Theatre and in WIN B.204. There will be a small bit of work to be done in WIN B.202 as well.
PMCS has assured me that the work will be done in such a way to have minimal impact on our work in the building. The work crews will be working during the day from 7am to 4pm, and the project is expected to last about 8 weeks.
Thank you,
Ben Fest
Ben Fest
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Associate
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Hello Everyone,
I've been email blasting the students about room reservation policies. Below is a paste of the thread:
Hello again Dance and Theatre students!
As a follow up to the email below about reserving rooms in Winship, I wanted to take a moment to discuss some of the rough patches that you might encounter in the procedures for room reservations. Thanks to those of you that provided feedback to inform me of what is missing in my first email.
- Not all rooms in Winship are reservable through our office.
- There are several rooms in Winship that I cannot help you reserve because they are more tightly controlled or controlled by a different administrator. Here are some common examples of spaces you cannot reserve:
- The B. Iden Payne and The Oscar Brockett Theatre – to reserve these theatres you must work with Texas Performing Arts staff. You can email them at scheduling@texasperformingarts.org
- The Lab Theatre – After 5pm on weekdays and all day on the weekends you have to schedule The Lab Theatre through a committee of graduate students. You can email them at utlabtheatre@gmail.com
- WIN 2.124 (pilates studio) - This room has specialized equipment, and I am not able to reserve it on request. If you really think you need this room you can see me for more information, but I am going to require approval from a specific faculty member who I won't name here.
- WIN B.204 (design studio) - This room has work stations for graduate students of design. It cannot be reserved.
- The Atrium – The atrium in front of The Oscar Brockett Theatre is a public space and cannot be reserved by students for activities. Email me if you think that this is the best location for a departmental activity.
- WIN 2.121 "Robo Lab" - There is highly specialized equipment kept in there, and we can only grant you access if you are on the list of students provided to me by faculty members that are teaching in that space. You cannot reserve the space, but if you are on the list, then we can check out a key for you to access the space. The key checkout system is a whole other ball of wax that I won't go into here.
- WIN 1.138 "TADL" - This is the department's computer lab. It is only held for classes and open proctor hours, but cannot be reserved by students.
- WIN 1.139 "Sewing Lab" - There is highly specialized equipment kept in there, and we can only grant you access if you are on the list of students provided to me by faculty members that are teaching in that space. You cannot reserve the space, but if you are on the list, then we can check out a key for you to access the space.
- WIN 2.170 "Costume Shop" - This is not a space you can reserve. Design students are working on costumes 24/7 in this space, and we have a cohort of staff members from Texas Performing Arts that oversee the space.
- Any of our restrooms – believe it or not I get a lot of requests to use our dressing rooms and larger restrooms for projects. We have too few restroom facilities to be able to reserve them for one particular group or project. Moreover, some of them have lockers, and we can't prevent people from getting at their belongings by reserving the space for a particular group of people.
- There are several rooms in Winship that I cannot help you reserve because they are more tightly controlled or controlled by a different administrator. Here are some common examples of spaces you cannot reserve:
- The info desk worker is not always present to assist you.
- The info desk workers are all undergraduate students from around the university. I supervise them as they take care of various departmental tasks and functions, and only one of those is room availability research. Often times, their tasks will take them away from the desk for short OR extended periods of time. Moreover, they call in sick or are absent sometimes and I can't always get their shift covered by another employee.
- If you find the desk worker is gone during their hours of operation, then you can come see us in WIN 1.142. There will be cases where we ask you to wait for the info desk worker to return, but if you have an urgent need, then I can help you from my office.
- The info desk hours are Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm, but there are 2 schedule gaps at the moment (the price of working with students with other commitments).
- There is no info desk worker on Tuesdays between 3:15pm and 4pm and there is no info desk worker on Wednesday mornings between 9am and 10am.
- We also staff building monitors Monday through Friday from 7pm to 11pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to noon, 2pm to 5pm, and 7pm to 11pm.
- When the box office is open on show nights the building monitor will not open their window until 7:30pm, but will be present in the building securing spaces, etc.
- If you need a space opened during a time when we don't have a building monitor, then you need to allow for their schedule. You can always speak to us about checking out a key or having a space unlocked before the monitor leaves. We will not staff someone in between shifts just to make sure you can get into your reservation.
- The building monitor hours are also on the departmental wiki page about room reservations and are posted on the glass of the main administrative office (WIN 1.142).
- The info desk and the building monitor desk will be closed according to the official university holiday and closure schedule, and we don't student workers over the breaks (winter, summer, spring).
- The info desk workers are all undergraduate students from around the university. I supervise them as they take care of various departmental tasks and functions, and only one of those is room availability research. Often times, their tasks will take them away from the desk for short OR extended periods of time. Moreover, they call in sick or are absent sometimes and I can't always get their shift covered by another employee.
- The info desk worker told you a room was available, but the request was still denied.
- The info desk worker is able to check the availability of a room in real time. They aren't there to approve or deny requests, but merely to assist you with room selection because they have access to the room reservation calendars. I have 2 business days to process the room request forms, and many things could happen in between your form submission and when I process the room request. Only my office can approve or deny a room request, so working with the info desk worker to research rooms is not a guarantee of a room request approval.
- Another student may have submitted a request for the same room before you got yours in, but that was not yet on the room calendar when you talked to the info desk worker.
- A faculty member may have emailed me for an official class/production/meeting room need, which they do frequently. I input the faculty requests to the room calendars as I receive them, and I always prioritize class and production needs over room request forms from students.
- Our policy is that class needs come first, then our departmental production needs, and then individual student needs. https://wikis.utexas.edu/display/tad/Room+Reservations Note the bold print at the bottom of the policies an procedures section.
- The info desk worker is able to check the availability of a room in real time. They aren't there to approve or deny requests, but merely to assist you with room selection because they have access to the room reservation calendars. I have 2 business days to process the room request forms, and many things could happen in between your form submission and when I process the room request. Only my office can approve or deny a room request, so working with the info desk worker to research rooms is not a guarantee of a room request approval.
- I think I need an exception to the room reservation policies and procedures for my particular academic work.
- If you have reviewed all the policies and find that you are unable to satisfy our requirements and be successful in your academic work, then you should email and perhaps we will set up a meeting to discuss your case.
- I am not a miracle worker, so please don't abuse this option. I am happy to try and help you, but some requests are beyond my authority to grant.
- If you have reviewed all the policies and find that you are unable to satisfy our requirements and be successful in your academic work, then you should email and perhaps we will set up a meeting to discuss your case.
I truly hope that these explanations help you in your quest to secure space in Winship. I understand that the room request system is not effective 100% of the time, and I encourage you to provide me with constructive criticism so long as you are not just complaining. I will always strive to make the system more user friendly so that you have less stress in reserving a room. It may be that the limitations on our system are there for good reason that you have not considered including – protection of irreplaceable property, prevention of liability risk, FERPA protection, and more.
Thank you for your time,
Ben Fest
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From: Albert B Fest <b.e.n@austin.utexas.edu>
Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 12:01 PM
Subject: room reservations
Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 12:01 PM
Subject: room reservations
Hello students of Theatre and Dance,
I want to take a moment to help you understand the room reservation system because there seems to be widespread confusion.
Students may reserve a room in Winship by filling out and submitting a room reservation form. Room reservations are allowed at all times when the building is open. During the long semesters we are open every weekday between 7:30am and 11pm, and on the weekends between 9am and 11pm
Room reservation forms are kept with the information desk worker. The info desk is located at the main entrance of the building (in the box office), and it is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm and from 7pm to 11pm. The info desk is staffed on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to noon, 2pm to 5pm, and 7pm to 11pm.
The room reservation policies are listed on the back of the room request form, and they can also be found on the departmental wiki: https://wikis.utexas.edu/display/tad/Room+Reservations . PLEASE READ THE POLICIES BEFORE YOU SUBMIT A REQUEST.
So that you do not have to just request rooms blindly without knowing if they are already booked, we insist that you work with the info desk to determine if the time/space you are requesting is available or not.
Here is a key piece of information:
We do not contact you about your room reservation. You must come back to the info desk to retrieve your processed form. That processed room request form is your proof of the room reservation, and you must have that on you while you are using the room. There are many many processed room request forms still at the info desk, so I know that many of you are not even verifying if your room request was approved or not. As far as I'm concerned if you don't even bother to pick up the processed room request form, then the room is not yours. We ask that you allow two business days for processing, and we do not permit reservations more than 2 weeks in advance.
There are lots of other useful tidbits on the wiki and on the back of the room request form. Please read them if you want to use a room.
I hope this information proves useful to you!
Ben Fest
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Associate
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Hi Winship folks,
I hope the break has been good to you!
I wanted to take a moment to make you all aware that The Winship Building will only be open this week (Monday, 1/6/14 to Friday, 1/10/14) from 7am to 5pm. This weekend, 1/11 and 1/12, the building will be closed unless you have a proximity card to access the building. Even if you can gain access to the building, there is no building monitor and your room may be locked.
Building Monitors return with the start of classes on 1/13/14 and at that point the building will be open from 7am to 11pm daily. Please note the following Building Monitor hours:
- Monday through Friday – 7pm to 11pm
- Saturday and Sunday – 9am to 12pm, 2pm to 5pm, and 7pm to 11pm
- There are no staff available to assist you in the weekday hours from 5pm to 7pm, nor on the weekends between building monitor shifts.
Building Monitors have some building keys to assist them in providing access to classrooms and to be able to lock up the building at the end of the night. They do not have the grand master for the building, and if you need to access any special equipment or rooms, then you need to make arrangements with the main office well in advance of your reservation date.
Thank you for your attention,
Ben Fest
Greetings Winship,
Please be aware that the water for the entire building will be shut down between the hours of 4am and 8am this Thursday, 1/9/14. Utilities Distribution has asked for this outage to work on some water lines that feed the building from the basement level.
Please keep this in mind if you are working early that day.
Thank you for your attention,
Ben Fest
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Associate
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Greetings Winship,
A crew will be working on some alarm systems in the wee hours of the morning on 11/5/13. The tests will be disruptive, but they should be completed between 5:30am and 6:30am, so I can't imagine there will be many of us here.
Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.
Thank you,
Ben Fest
Good afternoon everyone,
I really appreciate how everyone has come together to accommodate the basement egress project, even though it is likely that none of us wanted this to happen during the semester. You have all been very patient with all the delays and issues. Much to my chagrin the project is changing its start date again, and the below email is proof in writing that they want to try and handle this during winter break.
I was just in the basement and saw how the stock cage areas have been cleared, and this past Wednesday many grad students helped me empty the cabinets from B.204. I realize how inconvenient it is that we are now backtracking after Theatre and Dance fulfilled our end of the bargain. I apologize for what it is worth.
I will let you know how the project fares as we move towards that winter break start date, and will keep you informed of any further changes.
Please feel free to let me know if you have questions.
Thank you,
Ben Fest
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Assistant
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Administrative Assistant
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Good morning Winship,
It has been a long time coming, but The Basement Egress Project will begin this week and will kick into full swing by next week.
The Basement Egress Project is a construction and renovation project that is being managed by UT's Project Management and Construction Services (PMCS) under the direction of UT's Fire Safety Office. The goal is to provide a second means of egress to our basement tenants in case of an emergency evacuation.
Essentially, we are going to build a dedicated hallway that will connect the vending area in the basement (WIN B.104) to the eastern stairwell of the building (1.1S2). The hallway will run south to north in front of the costume stock cage in WIN B.106, then it will veer right (eastward) through WIN B.204 to connect to the east stairwell. The construction work will therefore be below The Oscar Brockett Theatre and in WIN B.204. There will be a small bit of work to be done in WIN B.202 as well.
PMCS has assured me that the work will be done in such a way to have minimal impact on our work in the building. The work crews will be working during the day from 7am to 4pm, and the project is expected to last about 8 weeks.
Please direct any comments, questions, or concerns to me and I'll be the liaison between the department and the construction crews and project managers. Once the construction is underway, all foot traffic will be asked to avoid the work areas whenever possible, but they will have a worker present to assist you should you need access to the stock cage. Please use the eastern stairwell as the primary means to access WIN B.204.
Have a great day,
Ben Fest
Albert "Ben" Fest IV
Administrative Assistant
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824
Administrative Assistant
Department of Theatre and Dance (WIN 1.142)
The University of Texas at Austin
phone: 512-232-2668
fax: 512-471-0824