“So you want the skinny on Physical Plant?” Director of Facilities Dan Kiger asks, grinning.

Kiger serves as director of Geneva College’s Physical Plant, the department that keeps the campus in operation. He has worked in the department for fifteen years, beginning as the director of housekeeping, then assistant director of physical plant, and now director of facilities.

Geneva’s Physical Plant includes the housekeeping staff who clean the dorms and other buildings, as well as the craftsmen and technicians who repair damaged facilities, tend the grounds, and generally keep the College operational. “Renovation, up-keep, plowing snow, mowing, gardening, repairs, cleaning, that’s all our job,” says Assistant Director Mark Petley.

Physical Plant employs thirteen full-time housekeepers who are responsible for cleaning and doing general maintenance in the dormitories and other buildings on campus, as well as fourteen full-time craftsmen, who work as ground crew and do larger maintenance and renovation.

“Currently, we’re working on the renovation of the apartments, which you’ll really start to see results from next year,” Petley says. “We’re working on Kerr House and then we have to reset the gas line, which has needed work for a while.”

Kerr House, a longtime off-campus house for students, has been closed for the past four years due to deteriorating conditions. “I wish I could show you a before and after of the house,” says Kiger. “It was literally falling apart and now, if I had to choose a place to live at Geneva, I would live there. It’s just beautiful. But that’s what you can do when you have a great crew of craftsmen.”

“It’s a family here,” says Petley. “Our guys don’t do it for the money, they do it because we can work together as a team, and we can do good work here ... I can remember sleeping on the floor over Christmas Eve a couple of years ago to keep the heat running. But we do it for the people.”

In early 2026, an exceptionally heavy snowfall and cold spell kept Physical Plant busy. But the staff remained unphased by the inconsistent weather. “It’s not the worst thing we’ve had to deal with,” Petley comments. “And it was bad, but one of the things we’re very proud of is that that Monday, even after they canceled all the day classes, we were able to have night classes. There were other colleges in the area that were closed for the week. I visited [another college] on that Friday and they still didn’t have their campus clear.”

Through storms, heating system failures, aging buildings, and the ordinary struggles of keeping a campus of nearly 1,300 residents clean and in good repair, Geneva College’s Physical Plant employees continually serve the community. Although they rarely step into the spotlight, they work faithfully to support the College, which could not run without them.