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• Center for Facilities Research (CFaR)
• Facilities Performance Indicators (FPI)
• Strategic Assessment Model (SAM)

An Update On APPA's Strategic Assessment Model

by Maggie Kinnaman
Chair, SAM Task Force

In late 1999, the Strategic Assessment Model (SAM) was made accessible to you via the APPA WEB site.  Much has been accomplished and I'd like to share those accomplishments and future plans with you. But before we get started let's take a moment to revisit the original charge from the APPA Board to the SAM Task Force. The charge was articulated as establishing an inventory of reliable and meaningful performance indicators that would greatly increase the credibility of the facilities management professional, while providing stewardship over his/her institution's greatest and most costly resource.

SAM Defined
The SAM Task force responded to the charge by defining the Strategic Assessment Model as follows:

The APPA Strategic Assessment Model, referred to as SAM, is an essential tool that can be used to achieve organizational excellence through continuous improvement. SAM enables the facilities professional to assess an organization's financial performance, the effectiveness of its primary processes, the readiness of its employees to embrace the challenges of the future, and its ability to delight customers. The facilities professional can utilize the model for self-improvement, peer comparison, or benchmarking. Think of SAM as your vehicle that takes you on a journey from today's realities to future excellence.

In a nutshell, SAM consists of two components, a data collection piece and a self assessment tool that allows an institution to self rate using a qualitative scale, rating organizational effectiveness 1 through 5. We believe that by using the combination of trending quantitative performance indicators and the qualitative criteria for determining levels of organizational effectiveness, SAM has become a strategic tool. SAM can help an institution determine its current level of organizational effectiveness, recognize what is required to move to the next level, and develop strategies and action plans for improving in each of the scorecard perspectives.

SAM provides facilities managers with a tool that helps to get the attention of and bridge the communication gap that often exists between the facility manager and our campus decision makers. The model helps to tell the facilities story in the language of business by collecting data in such a way that an institution can see at a glance how their facilities performance fares with the performance of others within the profession.

PROJECT SUCCESS, DEFINED
In 1999 the Task Force identified four measures of success for this project. Keep these in mind as you read through the accomplishments and see how we've fared. The measures are:

• The identification of ranges of performance for the facilities profession through use of the model's performance indicators.
• SAM becomes a critical and credible tool that can track facilities effectiveness over time.
• The identification of performance indicators that can serve as a platform for initiating a process of benchmarking.
• SAM is fully integrated with other APPA programs.

WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED
The model was updated in 2000 and rolled out at the APPA Annual Meeting in Fort Worth, Texas. Preliminary 1999 survey results were made available to our members during that presentation. Final results of the 1999 survey were sent to participants in the fall of 2000. During the fall of 2000, SAM presentations were made to every Region to include Australasia (AAPPA) and our strategic alliance partners in the United Kingdom (AUDE).

In early 2001 SAM presentations were made to the Council for Higher Education Management Associations (CHEMA). CHEMA is an umbrella organization of 34 associations within Higher Education administration. The 2nd Edition SAM Publication was made available to our members during the APPA Annual Meeting held in Montreal, Canada in the summer of 2001. This publication not only explained the details of the model, it captured numerous case studies from members currently using SAM in some form. These case studies included representation from Australia and the United Kingdom. Also during the Annual Meeting in Montreal, a SAM implementation presentation was rolled out to over 80 attendees.

With the SAM Task Force having substantially completed its charge, the Task Force structure was abandoned and the group realigned as a sub-committee under the purview of the APPA Information Services Committee. This alignment has proven quite useful and will help APPA consolidate its data collection efforts.

SAM Committee members also were invited to present at a Western States NACUBO meeting in the fall of 2001. What an honor for facilities folks to present to our higher education business officers.

Currently we are working with Prism Computer Corporation to develop a WEB based survey instrument that will be used to roll out a 2002 survey to our members in the summer of 2002. The WEB survey format will allow members to input data directly through the WEB and obtain instantaneous, preliminary WEB survey results. In this world of instant gratification, this is just what the doctor ordered.

Another very remarkable thing is happening. The Balanced Scorecard concept, embraced within the SAM model, is being applied to APPA's Educational Forum, the Facilities Management Evaluation Program and the Award for Excellence. Could we be moving toward program alignment within our Association of Choice?

Finally, we will be discussing our SAM presentation for the upcoming Educational Forum in Phoenix, Arizona as well as the feasibility of creating a SAM Implementation Handbook.

So, I'll ask you the question. Given our 1999 picture of success, how are we doing and what do you see as our opportunities for the future?

So in closing, don't forget to do two things. First, obtain a copy of the new SAM publication and second mark your calendars for the summer of 2002 and the new WEB based SAM survey.