GETTING TO KNOW ONE OF UNLV’S CUSTODIAL AND MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL MEMBERS
By Katherine Fernelius, Copy Editor
UNLV The Rebel Yell, NV
Sept 25 2007
The UNLV campus and buildings usually just seem to work. Doors are
unlocked, the grounds are clean and the things that are needed somehow
are just there. But those things don’t just happen. There are people
working, behind the scenes in most cases, who make things a little
easier for students, professors and the administrative staff.
These people are the UNLV maintenance and custodial personnel.
All buildings have custodial staff who keep the campus clean, and most
buildings have at least one maintenance person who comes in, unlocks
all the doors, makes sure that the technology needed is available
and ensures that everything in the building is running smoothly.
Haike Goomroyan is a maintenance worker who works in the Alta Ham
Fine Arts building.
"You know what a concierge does in a hotel? Well I’m the concierge
of the music department," Goomroyan said.
His job is a blend of many trades. He is the maintenance man and
security. He is in charge locking and unlocking the building and is
required to know HFA’s and Beam Music Center’s event schedules.
He also takes care of the performers-making sure they are comfortable
and have everything they need-and is the students’ biggest supporter.
"This job would not be a good job if I didn’t like people, but I have
had the opportunity to work with great people," Goomroyan said.
"Everyone from the staff, to the students, to the artists who come
in to play in our hall, has made this job very rewarding."
Goomroyan began his career at UNLV in 1983. Originally from the then
Soviet-controlled Armenia, Goomroyan moved to Las Vegas 24 years ago
and started studying at UNLV. He was a percussion player majoring in
music performance.
The music department was looking for student workers to take care of
the practice rooms and HFA in general, and three years after he had
begun his studies, Goomroyan and a few others were hired.
However, there were not many students workers who were reliable and
trustworthy. Kenneth Hanlon, director of the music department at that
time, was disappointed with many of the other student employees and
decided to keep just one. That one was Goomroyan.
The music department was rather small when Goomroyan started, and
he was just a part-time employee with few responsibilities. But,
in the spring of 1988 he went on a five-and-a-half-month long tour
to Japan with a small brass band.
When he returned in the fall of 1988, the Strip was upside-down. A
strike was in progress and Goomroyan was nervous that he would not
be able to find consistent work as a musician on the Strip.
"It was a real decisive moment for me. I had to decide what I wanted
to do, and since I already had a job here, I decided I would just
stick with it," Goomroyan said.
Goomroyan’s job, however, is not the same today as it was in 1988.
When he started working in HFA, he had many responsibilities but
nothing compared to the workload he currently has.
"Four or five years ago when Beam opened, that was it," Goomroyan
said. "My workload tripled and I belonged to the music department
from then on."
Goomroyan went from having a student, part-time job to a full-time
career. His hard work is definitely noticed and appreciated by both
the faculty and students.
"Without Haike, this place would come to a grinding halt," Hanlon,
a professor in the music department, said.
Although Goomroyan has much work, he loves his job. He loves working
for the music department and working with the students and staff.
"It is very rewarding watching the students go from the time they
get here to their senior recitals," Goomroyan said. "Five years
down the road when a student is playing in Carnegie Hall, I can say,
‘Hey I took care of that kid.’"
The students and staff place great trust in Goomroyan and consider
him part of the music family.
"Heike is wonder-man and is very supportive of everything we do,"
Christina Williams, a choir major, said. "He is part of the family
around here. HFA would not be the same without him."