Lloyd Rhoades has a lot of spring cleaning to do. With a campus of 15,984 acres, it's no wonder.

This winter took its toll on Penn State. There's gravel to sweep up, debris to cart away, turf to repair, sidewalks to fix, lines to paint and flower beds to edge. And soon, there will be grass to cut.

It's a long to-do list with a deadline of the week before graduation. But Rhoades and his crew are used to tight schedules and piles of work.

Rhoades, the Office of Physical Plant (OPP)'s central services manager, works as the snow marshal in the winter. He directs his team to make sure campus is clear of snow by the time classes begin each day -- and with Happy Valley's reputation for snowfall, that's no easy task. His red, gray and black hat says it all: He's the "Snow King."

With campus's 25 miles of paved walkways and 32 miles of paved roads and streets, thawing the university can be a tough job, but the crew did it without needing a single school cancellation this school year.

This winter, Rhoades said, was "a son of a gun," and he's glad the snow is melting.

"It's been a long winter," the 56-year-old said.

But now the crew is trading snow shovels for garden spades, as Rhoades transitions from the king of snow to the king of spring. He and his spring cleanup committee have a deadline -- to make sure campus is sparkling clean in time for graduation.

"We want to put our best foot forward for that," Rhoades said.

One of the members on Rhoades's team is Jim Brown, the leadman for the central support services crew. Brown is responsible for coordinating and scheduling 18 maintenance workers and equipment officers.

The first step to spring cleanup, Brown said, is taking a look over campus. Then Rhoades sits down with all the supervisors, makes a laundry list of everything to do and divides the tasks.

Things like potholes go to Brown and his crew. Things like mulching go to a landscaping crew.

Organizing is second nature for Rhoades. After all, he gets plenty of practice shoveling the campus out of the brutal State College winters.

During the winter, Rhoades is a champion multi-tasker. In his office, it's not uncommon to find The Weather Channel on the TV, AccuWeather on his computer and 93.7 The Bus on the radio. He's always watching the weather, and he works with Penn State's meteorology department.

When a storm's on the way, Rhoades calls a snow meeting in his office at about 11:30 a.m. At the meeting, he said, he'll "lay it out to the guys what we're going to get, then make a tactical plan."

Brown helps with the planning process. His crew handles all the roads and parking lots, while the landscape crew covers sidewalks, he said.

Brown even helps do the dirty work himself. He spent more than 22 years on the crew as an operator. He plows with his pickup truck when needed and salts the roads before a storm is expected.

If a storm's expected overnight, Rhoades calls in workers at about 10 p.m. to work overtime -- even though they've just worked during the day. It takes about eight hours to clear all of campus's roads and parking lots, excluding the student lots.

"We plug away at it," Rhoades said, "and usually by the end of the day, it's clear."

At about 4 a.m. on a snowy night, Rhoades talks with Penn State Police to tell them what he thinks campus will look like at about 7 or 8 a.m. He provides advice used to determine if a cancellation or delay is necessary, though it's not his call.

Sometimes when he's out checking the lots on campus, he'll see students throwing snowballs and sledding on trays. He'll hear them yell "slow down, slow down, we don't want class tomorrow!"

But there can be problems even too great for a Snow King to handle -- such as this winter's cold temperatures, during which it was too cold for salt to work.

"It's Mother Nature, and she's in charge," Rhoades said. "Sometimes we can deal with it, but it's Mother Nature, and she deals surprises."

When there's a lot of work to coordinate, Rhoades stays the night in his office. He keeps a sleeping bag in his car to roll out on his office floor in case he needs to stay at work. Twice this winter, he's had to stay overnight.

Now, he's getting ready for the spring. But no matter what the season, OPP spokesman Paul Ruskin lauds Rhoades' "enthusiasm and energy."

"Lloyd is very highly respected by the people who work with him," Ruskin said. "And he's widely known across the United States at other universities for running a very competent snow-removal team."

Rhoades, a 24-year Penn State employee, has worked as the snow marshal for about 14 or 15 years. Nowadays, he manages a team of about 300.

"People hear a lot about the Penn State football team," Ruskin said, "but they should also be aware that we have an outstanding snow removal team."