Marlene Slichter is a senior custodian with VC-CFO’s Facilities Management.

Marlene recently was awarded the 2015-16 Kathleen Moore Scholarship to provide career advancement and educational enrichment opportunities for career staff working in the VC-CFO organization. Marlene will be using her scholarship to pursue advanced training in carpet cleaning techniques.

What's your day-to-day role in stewarding university resources?
I joined the university in April 2001 as a custodian. I’m now a senior custodian, and my day-to-day role is cleaning the Chemistry Annex.

What's an example of how you delight customers?
There is nothing really unique about my approach – I do the best I can, every day.

I'll tell you a story:  Recently I was cleaning the 4th floor Annex at about 11:30 PM. A couple of the researchers were still working on their projects, and we spoke in the hallway. I told them how impressive I thought their work was. One of the researches told me he had read that Napoleon said, “Even if I were to become a cobbler, I would still work to become the very best cobbler.” He looked at me and said I was working to be the best at my job.

What do you like best about working at UC Davis?
The best part of my job is working with the incredible minds and people at UC Davis. I have been given the opportunity to meet the first man to discover ice in space, the “mother of thermodynamics,” and I have watched brilliant people work long hours to change the world. Every day at UC Davis, I step into the future – and from what I see the future is going to be amazing!

What's the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my work is that it is never done. I deal with that challenge by never giving up. I go back to what I see on campus every day – “Not succeeding is not failure" – and I find better ways to accomplish my tasks.

Facilities Management, a unit of the Office of the Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer, maintains the University’s 11 million square feet of building systems.