In a study for APPA's Center for Facilities Research (CFaR), Cain and Reynolds (2006a; 2006b) linked the quality of campus facilities and the attractiveness of campus to college choice among their study's participants but also noted that facilities may not always be the primary motivation. Further, the physical campus environment can impact…

There has been a tremendous increase in use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the design and construction industry. There have been numerous case studies that have documented the improvements. The majority of these improvements have focused on better coordination of design resulting in fewer Requests for Information and/or change orders.…

Most colleges and universities have taken great strides in recent years to embrace "being green." As part of this process, many institutions have established an Office of Sustainability or similar department to implement these practices and foster the image of environmental consciousness that the universities want to project. Institutions are…

APPA's highest institutional honor, the Award for Excellence (AFE) in Facilities Management, recognizes those educational institutions whose facilities management organizations demonstrate quality in overall operations and effectiveness. Fewer than 40 institutions have received this distinct honor. The Award for Excellence is based on a set of…

Explores how universities and colleges can provide efficient parking and related transportation through careful analysis of current and future parking requirements in light of other institutional building plans, including the institution's master plan. Discussions include new construction versus facility renovations, an alternative to building…

Examines the planning, renovation and enlargement, and funding of a new University of Utah football stadium that would also be used in the 2002 Winter Olympics. Contractor selection, solutions to construction challenges, and the steps taken to minimize risk and guarantee success of the projects are discussed, including the fact that the stadium is…

Argues that the overall and continuing decay of the nation's public school facilities suggests a greater formal relation is needed between K-12 school physical plants and the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers (APPA). APPA's efforts to study and prepare for this task while also supporting APPA strategic objectives are discussed.…

As China undertakes substantial planned educational growth, the challenges of university physical plant administration include adaptation of space utilization analysis and planning techniques, improved economies of scale, increased dependence on community support for housing and other services, increased efficiency in construction, more preventive…

Discusses the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers' (APPA) objective of developing a network system wherein K-12 community members can access facilities-related information and communicate with APPA members or other school districts. Specific considerations are highlighted that need to be addressed before a successful and effective…

Guidelines for administrators concerning installation of a new campus telephone system address these issues: where to start; location and emergency power; the project team; paperwork; communication among those involved in installation; working with the local operating company; existing wiring; the external cable plant; special needs; and training…

Campus planning is affected by changing facility needs, transportation issues, emergence of satellite campuses, piecemeal development and funding, and shrinking budgets. A tool for reshaping college image is the campus assessment, which evaluates the campus character, condition, and maintenance and helps bring them in line with institutional…

Describes how one institution took advantage of an innovative internship program to conduct an assessment of its utilities operations. Describes how the program worked, the implementation of a "hot and cold deck optimization" approach, the savings that resulted from implementation, and the ongoing benefits of facilities' assessment. (RJM)

Defines the current core benchmarking and best practices information objective of the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers for sharing benchmarking and best practices information to K-12 facility managers. A summary is presented on implementation strategies designed to assist K-12 facility managers in utilizing this information. (GR)

Recent experiences of manufacturing and commercial service industries provide insights to college facilities managers for combining downsizing with quality improvement. The Service Excellence Model emphasizes creation of shared responsibility, focus on core service processes, empowerment of cross-functional process-improvement teams, performance…

Recipients of Association of Physical Plant Administrators awards for excellence in facilities management in various institutional categories are noted. Specific areas of outstanding achievement include cooperation, energy conservation, attention to detail, use of customer feedback, emergency preparedness, individual employee recognition, utility…