BLACKSBURG, Va., March 9 -- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University issued the following news release:

When junior Muni Pandey returned to her desk in Cowgill Hall after a January snowstorm, she was alarmed to discover that two of her design projects were gone - accidentally taken out with the trash. They came back through the efforts of Waste and Recycling employees who refused to let a student's hard work disappear without a fight.

In coordination with the Division of Facilities' customer service team, Teresa Sweeney, waste and recycling manager, and William "Billy" Eason, waste and recycling coordinator, leaned into the division's Care and Serve mission to find and return the design projects to Pandey.

"Customer service in...