APPA Completes Revision of Operational Guidelines Trilogy
Upon the recent publication of the fourth edition of the Custodial leg of APPA’s Operational Guidelines for Educational Facilities footstool—the other legs comprising Grounds and Maintenance—it is worthwhile to acknowledge the history of the original custodial staffing guidelines and concepts, first published in 1992. Since that time, the guidelines have been adopted and adapted by hundreds of colleges, universities, schools, museums, corporations, government agencies, and other facilities.
We also acknowledge and show our gratitude to the original pioneering team of Alan S. Bigger, J. Kirk Campbell, Jack C. Dudley, and Robert A. Getz for the creation and development of the custodial guidelines. Their visionary work with Custodial in 1992 laid the groundwork for the Grounds and Maintenance guidelines that followed. All three books have become foundational to the facilities industry.
The Operational Guidelines: Custodial book would not have seen the light of day had it not been for the leadership, dedication, and hundreds of hours of work contributed by Tom Becker and Ted Weidner, both Certified Educational Facilities Professionals and APPA Fellows. Tom and Ted served as co-chairs for the Custodial publication, and their teamwork, ability to gather an array of expert authors, and their writing and editing abilities were top-notch throughout the process.
In addition, Tom Becker served as the editor-in-chief for the complete revision of the Operational Guidelines for Educational Facilities trilogy. The revised edition of Grounds was published in 2020, Maintenance in 2022, and Custodial in 2023. Tom’s knowledge and expertise within the educational facilities world, his love for APPA, and his commitment to take on and complete the many tasks of the guidelines trilogy, both large and small, have resulted in an expanded, cohesive, and up-to-date set of resources for the facilities profession.
Many thanks to all the authors who answered the call to contribute their expertise and insights to the wide range of chapters provided within the three publications. Their thoughtful, detailed writing shows their dedication to and support of the campus facilities enterprise and the people who work in it.
We also are grateful to my APPA staff colleague Anita Dosik, who served as project manager for the trilogy, made and kept schedules, and coordinated all production aspects of the books. Her value and contributions to the Operational Guidelines books cannot easily be measured.
Finally, we acknowledge and appreciate the APPA membership, without whom the association could not succeed and who have supported the Operational Guidelines trilogy consistently for more than 30 years. Thank you all for your work to support educational facilities.
Steve Glazner is APPA’s director of knowledge management and editor of Facilities Manager. You can reach him at [email protected].
Coming in July/August 2023
- Space & All Its Entanglements
