It takes a lot of people to keep the BYU-Idaho campus running, whether that be constructing the buildings students learn and worship in, maintaining those buildings or taking care of campus grounds. Even though students might not always see it or be aware of it, there is a lot of work going into BYUI's campus each day.

“Whenever the university wants to remodel something or build something, our office gets involved to get it designed, to get it constructed and get the work done,” said Andy Johnson, the Director of Architecture and Construction Management. “Then we would turn it over to, for example, the library or whoever’s going to use it.”  

Johnson said that he loves seeing students use buildings that he worked on, whether they are using it for church or as a classroom. He said the David O. McKay Library is a good example of seeing students beginning to use a space after it's been remodeled.  

“It used to be many more rows of books, whereas today it’s more open study and gives more places for students to gather,” Johnson said. “I think our student today learns differently than 20 to 30 years ago, which is why the remodel was necessary.”  

Johnson said that in construction they capture the vision of the university and use that as their "why" for moving forward; then they put the pieces in place and get the work done.  

Neihlee Muir is the Construction Projects Manager on campus. Her office hires all of the consultants, which includes architects, engineers and all the contractors that do any work on campus. This includes any contractors that will do remodels or new construction. They also project manage their in-house shops when doing internal remodels. If they need a new office space or are reconfiguring a classroom then they will use their in-house university operations shops.

“My responsibility when we have a project is to ensure that we’re building it per the university standard,” said Muir.  

Another one of her responsibilities is to produce a "turnkey facility" for them. That means that she can give them the key and they can go right into maintaining the building at the completion of the project without any hiccups.  

BYUI has made a big difference in Muir's education and her work. She went to school at BYUI and has been working there for 13 years. Now she has up to a master's in management and leadership and is thriving at University Operations.

“The coolest thing about my job is that I can bring in professionals from out in the community, whether they’re contractors, architects, engineers, and we start every single meeting with a prayer,” Muir said. “That’s what’s unique about working at BYU Idaho, verses out in the industry. You wouldn’t start a meeting with a bunch of contractors in prayer like you do here. It sets the tone for all of our projects and we’ve definitely seen the Lord’s hand in guiding us.”  

Muir said there are many times when a project won't come together and they aren't sure why things are not working. Then something will happen like a missionary age change. It's after a change like that when they realize why a project wasn't working; it was because it wasn't the right time for them to move forward with that particular project.

“We have a lot of moving parts and our student safety and [their] ability to navigate campus is important to us,” Muir said. 

No matter the weather, come sun, rain, snow or ice, University Operations wants students to be safe and enjoy campus.

“We want our students to be able to have a beautiful campus to come to every day,” Muir said. “Our biggest goal is to make sure that they have a place that’s inviting to the Spirit when they come. That comes through maintaining and providing beautiful new facilities for them.”

Muir shared a website that students can use to navigate campus and get active updates on what construction is going on around campus.

Rexburg has a similar website to help you see what construction is happening in Rexburg.