E. Lander Medlin
The need for reskilling and upskilling in facilities management is critical given the myriad complexities and accelerating changes we face. We have an aging workforce, we have difficulty recruiting and retaining skilled trades, and we are losing many frontline staff to other local employment opportunities. Yet, there is an ongoing need for professional staff at […]
Andy Krouse, Ph.D., and Bonnie Davis, MBA
Leading our teams is no easy task. Each team is made up of individuals with different motivations, communication styles, and values. It is our job as leaders to shape the values of our team, understand their motivations, and communicate with them in the best way possible. Work alienation is one of the ways we can […]
Bob Beckstrom
Succession planning is a deliberate, continuous process in which the leader identifies key positions in the department and develops a plan for replacing staff in anticipation of loss (retirements, separations, and mandated force reductions). The succession planning process itself is flexible. It consists of steps or phases that include assessing the need within the department, […]
APPA Regions
ERAPPA—Eastern Region By Jessica Abbott ERAPPA President Wolcott Public Schools With so much uncertainty still on the horizon for what 2021 would look like when decisions needed to be made in January, the ERAPPA Board had decided to not move forward with an in-person conference in the fall. ERAPPA did hold a virtual […]
Kimberly Case Nichols
Returning to campus was a top priority for many in 2021. Several schools intended to return in-person classes in 2021 but were faced with resistance from staff, students, parents, and the community under a variety of circumstances. With the play-by-play of worldwide and local COVID-19 reports, it is no surprise that there was an increase […]
Ana Thiemer
“Well, the after-hours report only averages a couple items on the report. Are the facilities really in that bad of a shape?” It’s often that we are putting out fires before they are known to anyone but us, and it’s done on top of addressing seemingly never-ending requests with limited resources and even scarcer budgets. […]
Jack Rubinger
Facilities are in a crisis. Staff reductions due to retirement are straining our collective facility knowledge and impacting our ability to quickly respond to workloads and emergencies. Consider the complexity of a healthcare or school campus with dozens of buildings. How can we expect new hires to be as familiar with these facilities as our […]
Joseph Bocchiaro III, Ph.D., CStd, CTS-DS-I, ISF-C
Higher education institutions have become increasingly aware of the importance and advantages of including a more diverse spectrum of people in all aspects of their organizations. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I, or DEI) initiatives have focused largely on human resources (HR) and public relations (PR) issues that affect personnel interactions such as training and hiring, […]
Anjali P. Sridharan, BSEE, MBA, PMP
We all know that lighting has an important influence on our moods. A rainy, dreary day can make us sleepy and lethargic, while a beautiful sunny day can make us feel happy and energized. The implications of this relationship become even more important in the context of education. Can lighting in campus buildings have a […]
