Jesse Cantu

Jesse Cantu
Foreman
University Student Housing

Each year, Texas Tech University prepares to welcome thousands of students to campus for the first time. Jesse was new in his leadership role this year but improved his role to allow our residents on campus to have well-maintained spaces, so they can live and learn successfully. He is committed to enhancing the on-campus student experience and achieved this by introducing a new process for preparing rooms before move-in. This process was not only efficient in optimizing time spent checking each room, but also capitalized on staff working through every issue a room may have. Though our buildings are occupied all summer, he made sure to work with the limited schedule to ensure each room had been thoroughly checked. After move-in, he created a process that worked with the Residence Life area of our department to follow up in person on every single work order submitted before move-in. There were over 1,300 rooms on the list, and many of the rooms had two or more work orders submitted. This dedication did not end when the move-in excitement died down, as he started having his team do follow-ups to provide as much information as possible to the residents. When uncertainty hit this spring, he calmly organized a plan for his team that assisted our department and showed care and concern for his staff. His team is essential in maintaining the halls for residents, and since residents remained on campus so did his team. He worked diligently to find ways to balance safety for residents and staff while still being able to complete tasks. Due to his commitment, countless students have had better experiences and his dedication, character, and work ethic is the epitome of a true Red Raider.