Meet Meredith’s New Facilities Director: Russell Roxburgh

Russell Roxburgh, who joined Meredith as Facilities Director in September 2025, is already making a positive impact on responses to facility requests.  

Roxburgh’s facilities toolkit includes prior experience serving as facilities director for Five Towns College in Dix Hills, New York. He has also held assistant director, maintenance technician, and maintenance engineering roles in collegiate, residential, and non-profit settings. 

One of the things he’s learned from his previous experiences is how impactful good communication can be in facilities management, which is why this has been an area of focus since starting at Meredith. 

Roxburgh said one way he is improving communication and response times is through  “restructuring the work order request process to make it more intuitive.” 

Changes include “implementing new request categories to define requests by trade (Maintenance, HVAC, Housekeeping, Grounds, etc.) rather than a large pool, which will improve accountability and encourage faster response times” among the facilities team.

He is also working on implementing a way for the system to allow the technician assigned to the work order and the person who submitted the request to communicate questions and updates to each other while the order is in progress. 

Roxburgh said it typically takes 24-48 hours for most routine requests, depending on priority and volume, with life-and-safety concerns taking precedence. He has installed a visible work order counter in the shop to keep the team’s commitment to responding quickly “top of mind for all staff.” 

In addition to addressing immediate needs, Roxburgh is focused on longer-term upgrades, especially to the residence halls. He says the longer-term efforts have two components.

“We will be performing a campus infrastructure analysis and master plan to address HVAC, electrical distribution, building envelopes, and related systems for the future. This analysis will focus on the residential buildings,” he said. “We are also assessing staffing needs based on the buildings, property areas, assets, and equipment that facilities are responsible for, to ensure we have the team necessary to maintain these items on campus moving forward.”

Although he has only been at Meredith for a short time, Roxburgh has already come to appreciate the Meredith community and its traditions. 

“Everybody here has been awesome and extremely supportive. They have given grace and been so kind,” he said.

He also said he’s looking forward to observing Crook Hunt this spring. “I’m so fascinated by Crook Hunt. I love a good scavenger hunt. I know I’m not allowed to participate, but I can’t wait to see how it unfolds.”

Watch a Q&A with Russell on Meredith’s Instagram