Over 350 facilities management professionals from across the United States, including some from as far away as Guam, attended APPA U for its June 2024 session, held at the Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas, from June 24 to 27, 2024.
APPA U traditionally consists of two signature professional development programs—Institute for Facilities Management (IFM) with four core levels of General Administration, Operations & Maintenance, Energy & Utilities, and Planning, Design & Construction. The second program, Leadership Academy, focuses on four leadership skills: individual, interpersonal, managerial, and organizational. At this session of APPA U, there were a total of 35 graduates from both programs, meaning each graduate had completed all four levels of either IFM or Leadership Academy.
The bilingual Supervisors Toolkit, developed by the Central Region of APPA (CAPPA), was added as part of APPA U in San Antonio. It made its second appearance since it first debuted in El Paso in May 2023. Over 25 participants took part in the bilingual Supervisors Toolkit in San Antonio.
IFM and the Supervisors Toolkit sessions began after lunch in the Navarro Ballroom at the Westin on opening day, June 24th. Leadership Academy began its sessions on the morning of June 25th. Sessions for all three programs continued until the close of APPA U on June 27th. In total, there were 62 sessions held for IFM and 24 Leadership Academy sessions.
In addition to the educational offerings, there were plenty of networking opportunities with other facilities management professionals during the four days of APPA U—over breakfast, lunch, breaks between sessions, and the reception before the graduation ceremony. With the host hotel being on San Antonio’s beautiful River Walk, there were plenty of options for attendees for dinner and shopping, time to take a river cruise on the San Antonio River, and being within walking distance from historical landmarks like The Alamo.
APPA U ended early evening on Thursday, June 27th as one final networking reception and graduation ceremony was held for those who finished all four levels of Leadership Academy and the four levels of IFM received their graduation plaques. During this session of APPA U, there were a total of 35 graduates.
Congratulations to the June 2024 Graduates from Leadership Academy:
- Kevin Bell, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
- Patrick Chavez, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, MN
- Chris Cordova, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, NB
- Everette Gabriel, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Tammy Goodale, Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, MA
- Tyler Hand, Auburn University, Auburn, AL
- Susan Hopper, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
- Dennis Leary, Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC
- Cheryl Oberg, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, NB
- Jason Penney, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Canada
- Katarina Radovic, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
- Connie Scott, University of North Texas, Denton, TX
- Myo Tun, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
- Steven Wall, University of Maryland—College Park, College Park, MD
- Brad Weiland, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC
- James White, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX
Congratulations to the June 2024 Graduates from the Institute of Facilities Management:
- Kristy Arnett, University of Illinois—Urbana, Champaign, Champaign, IL
- Onkar Auzla, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
- Dennelle Clarke, Columbia University, New York, NY
- Gabriel Hampton, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, NB
- Tony Hanson, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA
- Steve Harrison, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Crystal Lenox, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
- Donna Morale, Dallas College, Dallas, TX
- James Mustard, Stevenson University, Owings Mills, MD
- Felicia Roussel, Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, LA
- Justin Smith, Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX
- Tim Stillwell, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA
- Elizabeth Swiman, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
- Byron Thomas, University of California—San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
- Andrea Tutoki, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- Thomas Wienand, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
- Marvin Woods, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Paula Farnsworth, dean of the Leadership Academy, and Lalit Agarwal, associate dean of Energy and Utilities for IFM, both made a few remarks before the graduation ceremony began and recognized the faculty of their respective programs for their work during the week.
APPA U will return to Texas—on January 6–9, 2025—this time at the Omni in Fort Worth. Click here to register for January’s APPA U. There will also be two opportunities to take a virtual offering of Level I of the Leadership Academy on either July 23–25 or September 17–19, 2024. Click here to register for either of the Level I virtual options of Leadership Academy.
Work has also begun to secure the location for the June 2025 APPA U, with a date and location to be announced later in the year.
