Find out how higher educational facilities cleaning can make your school more impressive to potential students.
Approximately two million new students enroll in college each year in the U.S. And with around 3,900 degree-granting institutions, the competition to attract these students is intense. In all the activities from marketing, admissions, and communications departments, one thing that often falls under the radar is how important education facilities cleaning is.
When students visit colleges, they explore classes, clubs, dining options, dorm rooms, sports and recreation opportunities, class sizes, and more. Whether they realize it or not, they’re also looking at how comfortable, clean, and inviting the spaces are.
Most students and parents aren’t looking critically at how recently a windowsill was dusted or if the carpet in the admissions building lobby has a stain. They may not even notice these things consciously. However, these issues do register. When they discuss the school visit later, they may just feel like it wasn’t tidy or that it just didn’t seem well taken care of.
When the time comes to enroll, the way a student feels at a school can make all the difference in deciding where to go. You can’t control how the food tastes, the size of the classes, or the layout of a dorm room.
As a building services contractor or commercial cleaning company, what you can control is the look and cleanliness of these spaces. That’s not all, though. There are numerous subtle ways your work impacts these higher education facilities.
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Keeping it clean: How educational facilities cleaning is the secret to higher enrollment
How does the work you do as an educational facilities cleaning team impact enrollment? Let’s begin with some of the more visible impacts your work has, then we’ll look at a few ways that may not be so noticeable.
1. First impressions. First impressions are just as important in a college or university as they are in a business. An admissions building with clean carpets, sparkling windows, and stocked bathrooms is much more appealing than one with paper on the floors and fingerprints on clear surfaces.
2. Welcoming grounds. If you’re responsible for keeping the grounds clean, that can also make a huge difference in how a potential student experiences the school. Tidy grounds free of litter and debris make a space feel more cared for. And as a result, students (and potential students) also feel more cared for.
3. Comfortable common spaces. Students spend a lot of time in common spaces. These areas are far more comfortable and welcoming when the chairs, tables, and couches are free of spills, crumbs, and other detritus.
4. Appearance matters. Let’s be honest. Who wants to enroll at a college with dirty bathrooms? It may be a herculean task to keep up with restrooms while 5,000 college students are in and out of them, but there’s a difference between a few drips of soap on a counter and a restroom that looks entirely neglected.
Your educational facilities cleaning team is vital in all of the above areas, and it shows. When prospective students see a clean space, the impression is that they, too, will be taken care of. But there are other ways your team adds to the positive impression of a campus. One of those is through improving campus engagement. Here’s what that means.
5. Healthy students. Your work in cleaning and disinfecting spaces helps students remain healthy. And healthy students are active and present around campus. They bring energy and excitement to a space, which is often evident to prospective students.
6. Healthy staff and faculty. It’s disappointing to visit a campus and meet with delays or absences. Similar to the situation with students, your work limiting the spread of germs is crucial to helping school staff and faculty remain healthy. These are the people who help keep things running smoothly for students and visiting students.
There’s so much more to educational facilities cleaning than keeping things looking nice. Certainly, that’s part of it. But the work you do is invaluable in promoting the health and wellness of everyone on campus. Not to mention, your work is also an integral part of boosting enrollment and helping the school move forward.
Keep health and wellness at the forefront of your janitorial strategy. Schedule a free call with Janitorial Manager to learn how mobile-friendly janitorial software can help your team improve conditions for everyone.