He’s known around the South 40 and The Village as Mr. Clean. That may be because Jim Severine closely resembles the cleaning-product mascot, with his stocky build and shaved head.
Or it may be due to the fact that he’s a neat and organized guy and, as associate director of building services for the Office of Residential Life, Severine has a lot to do with the tidy look and maintained landscaping of The Village’s and the South 40’s residence halls.
“There has been a lot of building in the South 40 recently,” Severine says. “The philosophy behind what we are trying to accomplish is that, for nine months out of the year, this will be the students’ home away from home. We want to create an environment that’s going to promote living and learning. That’s why we include so many study spaces, wood floors, soft colors and big-screen televisions.
“Our concept includes making our residence halls look great because when a student walks into one of the lounges for the first time, we want them to say, ‘Wow, this looks like a gorgeous home.'”
Severine is in charge of choosing, purchasing, installing and maintaining all of the furnishings, fixtures and equipment for new residence halls.
He also meets regularly with contractors to make sure the halls are properly equipped — from sofas and area rugs to flooring and paint. He and his staff are responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of those items after the halls are constructed.
They also get a lot of feedback from students, faculty and staff when choosing the best furnishings for a new building.
“We want to make sure the project managers and architects are putting in products that are user friendly, will give us good longevity and are a good bang for our buck,” Severine says. “We want them to be user friendly.”
It’s a big job, considering the major expansion in student housing in recent years.
Forsyth House, the first phase of the new Liggett House and all of The Village have been constructed during the past five years. The second phase of Liggett should be done this summer.
“Many of the older residence halls, like Liggett, Koenig, Umrath, Lee, Beaumont and Rubelman, were built in the early 1960s,” Severine says. “The plan is to continue knocking down these older dormitories and building new ones at the rate of about one per year. The residential college model, with modern residence halls, should be completed by 2011.”
But in the meantime, the current residence halls need to be maintained. That is where Severine and his crew come in.
“Our job is to maintain these buildings,” he says. “We partner with facilities operations and our contractors, vendors and suppliers. It’s a huge deal.
“Our furniture inventory alone is probably around $10 million. We have 47 buildings for which we oversee the day-to-day operation. That includes the grounds, landscaping, roof and everything inside the building.”
Born in Granite City, Ill., Severine attended Southern Illinois University Edwarsdville for two years before completing master apprenticeships in both carpentry and painting.
After getting married and working for several years as a commercial painter, he joined the University in 1985 as a maintenance painter.
“Right when I started here, I saw that there were many opportunities to move up,” Severine says. “Within a year, I had made working foreman, then a working supervisor in the South 40 and then maintenance supervisor, working on upkeep of the dormitories, and finally housing manager.”
About that time, Residential Life and Housing, which had been separate offices, were preparing to merge.
Justin X. Carroll, assistant vice chancellor for students, dean of students and director of Residential Life, came in to oversee the new office.
“Dean Carroll asked me if I would like to come on board and be part of his team,” Severine says. “I agreed and I’ve been working for him ever since. It’s a broad-spectrum job, and I love it.”
Carroll says, “Students give Washington University’s student housing facilities high marks because of the care and attention Jim gives to everything he does.
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Jim Severine University position: Associate director of building services for the Office of Residential Life Years at the University: 21 Hobbies: Fishing, hunting, golfing, baking, spending time with family Pets: Three dogs and two donkeys |
“His knowledge, high standards and personal commitment to providing a quality residential experience for our undergraduates are just a few of the reasons why Jim has been so successful during his time at the University. He will do whatever it takes to ensure that students’ needs are met and that they reside in a safe and comfortable environment.”
Severine has great passion for his job.
“Working here has been so good for me,” he says. “I’ve grown and matured with the University. It’s been so fun to be a part of the concept of a residential college, to the implementation of the plan and construction of new buildings. I’ve watched the University become a highly ranked institution and part of that really is based on our residence halls.”
Colleagues have noticed Severine’s drive.
“Jim is very calm under pressure,” says Rob Wild, associate director of Residential Life. “One August a few years ago, the power went out on a very hot move-in day in six of our buildings. While the rest of us were wringing our hands trying to figure out what we were going to do, Jim calmly brought us together and helped brainstorm a couple temporary lighting solutions.
“Jim’s cool response helped us all get through that afternoon.”
While always pausing to help others out, Severine also appreciates everything the University has done for him.
“I started here as a maintenance painter and have been able to grow with the University to become an associate director,” he says. “It makes me very proud to have been here this long and to watch all these amazing changes occur.”
When not working on buildings at the University, Severine is busy building at home. He and his wife, Sheree, recently acquired seven acres of land in Wardon, Ill., about 50 miles north of St. Louis, and just completed a log cabin.
“It’s been really fun to work on the house,” he says. “It’s kept me busy, but we love it.”
Both animal lovers, the couple has three dogs and two donkeys. “For our granddaughter to ride on,” Severine says of the donkeys.
He likes to golf, hunt and fish. And bake.
“That’s true. My wife and I used to have a business selling cheesecakes over the Internet,” he says. “We actually had a commercial kitchen in our basement, and I did all the baking. The cheesecakes were great; it just became too hard to compete with the big chain stores who could sell cheesecake a lot cheaper.”
Family is also very important to Severine. He has two sons — Nick and Nathan. He also has a 6-month-old granddaughter, whom he “adores.”
And of course, he has his job.
“I really love what I do,” he says. “I’m just having a blast with it. It’s different every day, and I’m exposed to so many young, talented people. It’s just a great job.”