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Leading Your Facilities Organization Through an Age of Transformational Change

APPA's Continuous Learning Series Banner

February 3, 2020
8:00am – 4:30pm 
Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina
Tuition: $395

Click here to register!
NOTE: Participants will be offered breakfast, morning refreshment break, lunch and afternoon refreshment break.

Preparing for Every Future: Leading Your Facilities Organization through an Age of Transformational Change (5 AIA CLU Credits)

Higher Education facilities organizations are facing changes and challenges at a pace unlike those experienced in previous generations. Entrenched and established views in the profession are being overturned by accelerating changes in funding models, technology advances, shifting workforce demographics, and strategic stewardship and master planning. This workshop will prepare facilities professional to effectively lead their facilities management organizations in this age of accelerations. Attendees of this day-long highly interactive session will identify and discuss their views of the future and the corresponding changes that need to be embraced in order to thrive in this Age of Accelerations.

Learning Objective 1:
Explore how to thrive in an age of accelerations to understand how campus facilities portfolios are being impacted and driven in a transformative way

Learning Objective 2:
Learn to strategically communicating “why” we do what we do to enhance our role and improve the overall facilities management value proposition

Learning Objective 3:
Understand the impact of the Internet of Things and other exponential changes in technology are having on the facilities management profession

Learning Objective 4:
Learn how shifting our focus for facilities stewardship towards an annual asset reinvestment and modernization strategy

Learning Objective 5:
Understand how evolving organizational challenges and opportunities brought on by shifting workforce demographics

Learning Objective 6:
Learn the growing importance and demand for soft skills to meet the demands of an increasingly technological world

Learning Objective 7:
Understand how moving from succession planning to succession management and preparation strategies by preparing facilities managers for multiple roles in an every-changing environment

Learning Objective 8:
Learn to leverage smart building systems technologies through exploding building sensing capabilities and Big Data/ predictive analytics tools

Higher Educational facilities organizations are facing changes and challenges at a pace unlike those experienced in previous generations. Entrenched and established views in the profession are being overturned by accelerating changes in funding models, technology advances, shifting workforce demographics, and strategic stewardship and master planning. This workshop will prepare facilities professionals to effectively lead their facilities management organizations in this age of acceleration. During this day-long workshop, we will further explore these evolving subject matter areas:

– Thriving in an age of accelerations to understand how campus facilities and energy portfolios are being impacted and driven in a transformational way;
– Focusing on “why” we do what we do to enhance our role and improve the overall value proposition;
– Shifting our focus for facilities stewardship towards an annual asset reinvestment and modernization strategy;
– Designing the institution’s risk tolerance through broader institutional stakeholder involvement and participation in campus-wide risk mitigation;
– Focusing on succession management and preparation strategies by preparing facilities managers for multiple roles in an ever-changing environment;
– Leveraging smart building systems technologies through exploding building sensing capabilities and Big Data/ predictive analytics tools;
– Understanding the reasons behind the high cost of capital construction and;
– Utilizing the total cost of ownership (TCO) as an aligning framework for integrating facilities-related investment decisions.


Faculty: 
Don Guckert, Associate Vice President, Director Facilities Management, University of Iowa and APPA Fellow and APPA Immediate Past President

Don Guckert serves as the Associate Vice President for Facilities Management at the University of Iowa where he is responsible for campus planning, space management, design and construction, utilities production and distribution, energy management, custodial services, maintenance and landscape operations. Prior to joining the U of I in 2003, Don was director of planning, design and construction for the University of Missouri. He has more than thirty years of experience in higher education facilities management and an additional ten years of construction industry experience. Don is a dean and faculty member for APPA’s Institute for Facilities Management and is currently serving as APPA’s President. He is a licensed professional engineer and holds a master’s degree in engineering management and bachelor’s degrees in engineering and liberal arts & sciences, all from Penn State.

Lander MedlinExecutive Vice President, APPA
Lander Medlin is the Executive Vice President of APPA “Leadership in Educational Facilities”. APPA represents more than 1,600 institutions of higher learning in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally, APPA serves the needs of educational facilities professionals (consisting of over 20,000 individuals) in the management, planning, and development of its educational facilities and provides leadership on significant educational facilities issues. Prior to joining the APPA staff in 1994, Lander was the Assistant Director for Administrative and General Services for the Department of Physical Plant at the University of Maryland, College Park. Lander earned a B.S. and M.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is currently working on her Ph.D. in Higher Education Policy, Planning, and Administration.