Annual Report 2023_FINAL_2

Excellent Service
Excellent Stewardship
Operations Division Annual Report - FY23
Texas Tech University
Tree Planting Initiative
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COMMITMENT TO CAMPUS
BEAUTIFICATION
Over the past few years, unprecedented
freezing temperatures has
caused significant damage to several
trees on the campus, resulting in
many being removed. In addition to
weather-related losses, some trees on
campus are older and are no longer
thriving due to their age. With Texas
Tech being in its centennial year,
some trees have been on campus for
100 years and have reached their
full lifecycle.
Lance Rampy, associate managing
director for Grounds Maintenance,
explained that as campus expands,
some trees must also be removed
to allow space for new construction.
In these situations, the grounds
team tries to relocate the trees to
other areas on campus, but this isn’t
always possible.
Associate Vice President for
Operations, Sean Childers, explained
that because of these factors causing
a decline of trees and vegetation
on campus, the Operations Division
is committed to enhancing the
landscaping on campus for all
to enjoy.
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“The Operations Division will be
focusing heavily on rejuvenating and
replenishing not only what was lost,
but adding to the beautiful landscape
around campus,” he said.
The Grounds Maintenance team has
set a goal of planting 300 new trees
on Texas Tech campus this year. The
tree planting began in March 2023
and is expected to be completed by
August 2023.
FINDING THE RIGHT TREES
Before planting could begin, months
of planning and preparation took
place. In September 2022, Mike
Quartaro, arborist at Texas Tech,
began searching for the perfect trees
to bring on campus.
“We’ve had some hard winters and
some of the nurseries have lost quite
a few trees, making ithard to find the
sizes that you want,” Quartaro said.
“Finding the right variety that you
want,and the sizes is a challenge.”
Quartaro traveled to Stephenville,
TX and Glen Flora, TX to locate the
desired tree species for the project.
The species selected consist of:
Chinese Pistache, Cedar Elm,
Red Oak, Redbud, Crepe Myrtle,
Crabapple trees and more. The trees
selected for the project are native
to the area to ensure they thrive
once planted.
After the trees were located and
brought to Lubbock, a detailed
tagging process took place. Quartaro
examined the branch patterns of the
trees and hand-selected the trees
that would be planted.
The trees will be planted throughout
the Texas Tech campus.
UNIVERSITY STUDENT
HOUSING GIVES BACK
The tree planting initiative has been
a team effort with University Student
Housing getting involved. According
to Tanya Massey, senior managing
director of Housing at Texas Tech,
the former director of housing, Sean
Duggan, noticed the loss of several
trees after a freeze in 2019 and
wanted to contribute to revitalization
efforts. Duggan recently retired in
2022 before the planting began.