Aldrich Confirmed as New APPA Board Vice Chair
Robert J. Aldrich
Robert J. “Bobby” Aldrich was ratified in a vote held in late August by APPA primary representatives as the new Vice Chair of APPA’s Board of Directors. He will replace Margaret Tennessen as Vice Chair and serve a two-year term from 2024 to 2026.
Aldrich has been employed since July 2021 as the director of operations and campus planning at Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York. He previously served in a similar role for 10 years at Miss Hall’s School in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts. Before his educational career, Aldrich served as the appointed chief of police for the Town of South Hampton, New Hampshire.
He has been an active APPA member throughout his education career, serving as an elected board member of the Southern New England chapter and volunteering for the professional development committees at the regional and national levels. He participated in and contributed to several Thought Leaders Series workshops and is an evaluator for the Facilities Management Evaluation Program (FMEP) and APPA Advisors.
“I am delighted by the election of Bobby Aldrich to the position of Vice Chair on the APPA Board of Directors,” said outgoing Vice Chair Tennessen, who also serves APPA’s Board of Directors as the head of the Nominating Committee. “Bobby stood out among a very well-qualified group of applicants for his enthusiasm and passion—both for APPA and our profession. It was a difficult decision given the caliber of the applicant pool, but Bobby impressed us with his extensive experience with APPA’s programs, his innovative ideas for increasing engagement among both new and existing members, and his excitement for the vision that the new APPA President and CEO Lalit Agarwal has articulated for our association. I know that Bobby will be a fantastic addition to the Board of Directors and Executive Committee, and I am happy to pass the torch to him at this pivotal moment in APPA’s history.”
“I also want to thank the other APPA Board members who comprised the Nominating Committee for their thoughtful work with the selection process. These included David Smith from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and SRAPPA Regional Director, Eric Johnson from the University of Southern California and PCAPPA Regional Director, and Angela Meyer from Southeast Missouri State University and CAPPA Regional Director. Their commitment to reviewing the application materials, interviewing the candidates, and carefully weighing the merits of each candidate resulted in a thoughtful recommendation to the Board of Directors.”
To learn more about the Vice Chair selection process, please click here.
2024 Thought Leaders Report: “The Campus of 2030: Risks and Opportunities,”
APPA’s 2024 Thought Leaders Report, “The Campus of 2030: Risks and Opportunities,” has been completed, and results from observations made during the Thought Leaders symposium in Alexandria, VA, held February 26–28, 2024.
During the symposium, 30 professionals in educational institutions and facilities management examined a variety of topics, including new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), staffing, adapting to institutional change, the outlook of enrollment in higher education, leadership, and streamlining processes to help facilities personnel prepare themselves and their institutions for the future.
In addition to the 2024 report, past Thought Leaders reports and many other publications supporting educational facilities management are available at the APPA Bookstore!
New BOK Chapter and Chapter Updates
APPA’s Body of Knowledge (BOK) now includes a new chapter, Standards and Codes for Educational Facilities Professionals.
This new chapter is intended to give facilities managers and engineers a starting point to understand better the nature of codes and standards for educational facilities. As a matter of clarity, this chapter is written mainly in the context of the United States, although international and other standards are included. That said, what is discussed related to “states” is very often also applicable in “provinces” or other analogous governance bodies in international settings (especially in Canada and Mexico).
In addition, four other chapters—Building Information Modeling (BIM), Solid Waste and Recycling, Cleaning Operations, and Customer Service—have been updated in the last month. Earlier in the year, the BOK chapters for Budgeting Practices and Strategies, Budget Recharge, Effective Talent Management, and Campus Master Planning were updated, making eight chapter updates in 2024.
APPA’s BOK is a foundational resource composed of multiple chapters covering all aspects of educational facilities management. It is available to APPA members online whenever needed. The BOK is updated continuously, and chapters are posted as soon as they are peer-reviewed and approved for publication.
Be sure to check out this valuable resource often and find something new to assist you in doing your job better every day!
CEFP Study Cohorts Now Open
As today’s facilities profession becomes more complex, facilities professionals face various challenges such as aging infrastructure, expanding workload, fewer resources, and utilizing space more efficiently.
APPA’s CEFP (Certified Educational Facilities Professional) is a credential that demonstrates superior proficiency, professional strength, and unfailing dedication to the educational facilities field and its challenges. The value of CEFP Certification is that it is the only facilities credential that focuses on professional development. It encompasses the full, multidisciplinary range of educational facilities management principles and practices—from planning, design, and construction to daily operations and general management. Certification makes you competitive with other professionals and more desirable for future leadership positions—an investment that will pay dividends in career development.
CEFP certification is designed for aspiring and existing educational facilities professionals with eight years of combined education and professional facilities management experience. Click here to learn more about starting your CEFP journey. Upcoming study cohorts will begin November 1, 2024, and January 1, 2025. Click here to register.
Job Express—Your Connection to the Perfect Job or Candidate
If you are looking for a highly qualified pool of candidates for a facilities management opening, APPA’s Job Express can help. Your ad will be posted online where it can be seen by thousands of facilities professionals who access APPA’s website. Additionally, your job listing is included in our weekly Job Express Bulletin, sent directly to APPA’s 17,000+ members.
The Job Express audience consists of professional facilities managers in top executive-level positions, individuals retiring from the military with extensive facilities and engineering experience, APPA’s Institute for Facilities Management graduates, and members who have earned the Certified Educational Facilities Professional (CEFP) credential.
Job Express offers market exposure through its online postings and weekly bulletin listings. All ads appear in one format for one low cost and are hosted online for eight weeks! Add email and website links so applicants can reach you at the click of a button. To find out more, go to https://www.appa.org/jobexpress.
Upcoming APPA Events
ACUHO-I / APPA 2024 Housing & Facilities Conference
October 28–31, 2024
Bethesda, MD
Institute for Facilities Management
January 6–9, 2025
The Omni, Fort Worth, TX
Leadership Academy
January 7–9, 2025
The Omni, Fort Worth, TX
APPA 2025 Spring Conference
April 9–11, 2025
New Orleans, LA
Kevin Willmann is APPA’s communications writer/editor and managing editor of Facilities Manager. You can reach him at [email protected].
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