Facilities Symposium Programming

Preparing the Student of 2024
Lander Medlin, Executive Vice President, APPA
We are seeing that students entering higher education in the next decade, being the most diverse incoming class in higher education history—and the vanguard of an increasingly diverse generation. They will have been raised with technology from birth and will consider online interaction as natural as breathing. They will be alert to the importance of mental health and wellness, both in themselves and in their peers. They will have a low tolerance for slow administrative processes. They will expect their professors to teach in engaging, interactive ways and make smart use of technology. They will expect a lot of themselves. They will expect a lot of their institutions. They will know what they are paying for their education, and they will demand every penny’s worth. Is today’s campus ready for these students? The answer: Yes—and no. Higher education is moving in the right direction, but it faces unprecedented demands and challenges. We are only now beginning to understand that the old normal is never coming back. We must find ways to adapt to a new normal and a new set of expectations from our future students.

Navigating the Waters of COVID-19
Karren Bee-Donohoe, Associate Vice Chancellor for Capital Facilities, SUNY System Administration
Abstract Pending Release.

Design Standards
Steve Thweatt, University of Colorado (Retired)
Learn how to communicate to the design consultant your campus needs in a new or renovated building. Review how to develop a set of institutional guidelines and standards for design consultants to utilize in the design of a campus project and how to contractually bind the consultant to your guidelines and standards. Discuss how to create feedback loops, for revisions to the standards, from the maintenance and custodial organizations and other stakeholders.

Leverage Your Assets
Chuck Farnsworth, Senior Educational Director, APPA
The strongest institutional communities rise to daily challenges when there is a strong, trusting leadership team operating at their highest potential.  Let’s explore the value of all of our assets – financial, facilities & human capital.  Many of our campus environments are at a crossroads in light of the current issues we are facing and now is the time to engage. 

You Got This: Motivation & Performance
Dave Patten, Business Operations Manager, Weber State University
Abstract Pending Release.

Preventative/Predictive Maintenance
Chris Smeds, Director of Technology & Innovation, University of Virginia
A comprehensive maintenance program relies on an effective approach to preventive and predictive maintenance. This session will address the key elements in establishing a preventive maintenance program and explore the challenges and benefits of sustaining the program.

Total Cost of Ownership – Module 1
Ana Thiemer, Associate Director – Planning & Project Services, University of Texas/Austin
Assets can be a piece of equipment to a system, to an entire facility or infrastructure project. Join us as APPA explores the critical importance of the Total Cost of Ownership.  This program is recommended for all levels of the facilities organization allowing everyone to be ‘on the same page’ with a common basic understanding of the goals and benefits. The course will introduce you to the specifics of the APPA 1000™ Total Cost of Ownership principles and how TCO is scalable and applicable to all your assets, from a single asset to your entire portfolio.

How You Balance The Freedom of Movement on Campus with Essential Student Safety
ANIXTER
Higher education facilities contain a number of complex areas that require special attention and integration into an overall risk management strategy. Allowing for the freedom of movement in an open environment, while also securing academic areas and common spaces, is essential to meeting the safety expectations of students, faculty, parents and the wider community. Be part of the discussion regarding the great need for 24/7 crime prevention and public safety strategy, understand the crucial proactivity required to maintain a safe and secure environment, while also allowing your institution to respond effectively in an emergency situation.

Project Management
Mary Vosevich, Vice President, Facilities Management, University of Kentucky
Project management isn’t just about construction but is useful in any project that you are doing. This class will provide an overview of the five process groups of Project Management – initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing – and the project manager’s roles and responsibilities.

In House Construction Services
Mark Stanis, Director for Construction & Renovation Services, University of Virginia
Discuss effective processes and procedures for providing in-house construction services.  Review staffing and organization, workload management and leveling, budgeting, recharge rate structures, billing procedures, and productivity and incentives to perform.

IT Meets OT For An IoT Strategy
Rob Murchison, CO-Founder, Intelligent Buildings
Abstract Pending Release.

Stepping Into Your Organization’s Health Dilemma
Dr. Will Miller
The American Lifestyle continues to be radically transformed by the destabilizing effects of our high tech lifestyle. No facet is immune to the significant health consequences that overwhelm us. Correlations are rightly made between our personal and professional communication technologies and a wide variety of mental health problems. Many of your staff members may be doing well, but stressed by mental health challenges at home and in their local communities. Across all demographics, America’s social isolation has wrought damaging consequences including epidemics of depression, anxiety, addiction, and suicides. We do know we cannot assume the smiling ‘game faces’ tell the story of your people. Taking the best care of them is worth its weight in gold!

Transformational Change in Facilities Management (Part 1)
Lander Medlin, Executive Vice President, APPA; Don Guckert, University of Iowa (RETIRED)
The education facilities management profession is finding itself increasingly immersed in a sea of transformational change.  In an era that has been termed the “Age of Accelerations,” impactful forces are changing the profession in dramatic ways as it relates to Finances, Technology, Demographics, and Communications.  A panel of Institute faculty will share their view of the not-so-distance future and discuss with attendees how to best position ourselves to embrace the changes that are bearing down upon us.

Total Cost of Ownership – Module 2
Ana Thiemer, Associate Director – Planning & Project Services, University of Texas/Austin
Assets can be a piece of equipment to a system, to an entire facility or infrastructure project. Join us as APPA explores the critical importance of the Total Cost of Ownership.  This program is recommended for all levels of the facilities organization allowing everyone to be ‘on the same page’ with a common basic understanding of the goals and benefits. The course will introduce you to the specifics of the APPA 1000™ Total Cost of Ownership principles and how TCO is scalable and applicable to all your assets, from a single asset to your entire portfolio. Participation in this 4-hour session will provide you the tools to understand the mandatory aspects of TCO while allowing you to determine the scope of your implementation based on resources available.

How Do Your Campus Facilities Meet Student & Faculty Expectations
ANIXTER
With research highlighting the impact of flexible learning spaces on student outcomes, there is an increased demand for multi-purpose areas that can be configured for different activities and controlled for comfort, safety, and efficiency. Flexible facilities enhance the productivity of students as well as faculty and staff. Join us for an informative session on how facilities leaders optimize your campus facilities, make the determination as to WHO will utilize WHAT technology. Then discuss with colleagues WHERE this technology will be located, allowing you to justify WHY this will benefit the overall goals of the institution.

Calculating Energy Usage & Savings
Larry Schuster, Associate Director for Utilities, University of New Mexico
In this session, participants will learn about different International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) methodologies to measure, estimate, and forecast energy usage, including computer modeling.  Attendees who work in all areas of FM will benefit from this class, learning about the quantifying measures behind one of FMs largest expense categories.  This information is particularly useful to those who work in business and finance, related to utility billing, calculating conservation programs paybacks, and performance contracting.

Transformational Change in Facilities Management  (Part 2)
Lander Medlin, Executive Vice President, APPA; Don Guckert, University of Iowa (RETIRED)
The education facilities management profession is finding itself increasingly immersed in a sea of transformational change.  In an era that has been termed the “Age of Accelerations,” impactful forces are changing the profession in dramatic ways as it relates to Finances, Technology, Demographics, and Communications.  A panel of Institute faculty will share their view of the not-so-distance future and discuss with attendees how to best position ourselves to embrace the changes that are bearing down upon us.

Site to Source: A Guide to Comprehensive Campus Energy Management
Lalit Agarwal, Director, Maintenance & Utility Services, University of Nebraska–Lincoln; Aaron Evans, PE, CEM, Engineering Supervisor, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Join us for an informative discussion, as we identify a comprehensive approach to campus energy management. It will include:
– Strategies to identify, secure or create funding for energy savings projects;
– Achieve optimal production of utilities (if produced on campus);
– Improve and maximize optimal distribution of utilities from production to end-use;
– Reduce energy consumption at the end-use building; and more!
Our conversation will highlight success stories from a research institution in Midwest.

The 5 Choices
Paula Farnsworth, APPA Leadership Dean

Emergency Preparedness
Joseph Han, Dr. Joseph K. Han, Chief Transformation Catalyst, The Nunchi Group
An increasing number of higher education institutions are placing more emphasis on emergency preparedness. Earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, and other natural disasters have all taken their toll on our campuses. This presentation will include recounts of actual devastating events and offer models for a campus emergency preparedness plan. The discussion will include planning an emergency operations center, media relations, community coordination, reconstruction, and FEMA interaction

FPI 2.0 – A New Spin on Your Data
Ted Weidner, Ph.D., PE, AIA, CEFP, DBIA, Associate Professor, Purdue University; Christina Hills, Director of Credentialing & Benchmarking
APPA’s Facility Performance Indicators Survey and Report (FPI) has been available for years to provide metrics about facilities and operations of the campus. The data is not changing but the ways to enter and display the data are changing to utilize modern tools. The presentation will demonstrate the latest survey and reporting tools, as well as help participants, identify ways to measure the changing status of their facilities.

Passion and Purpose
Jeremy Kinglsey
Passion – Passion drives us. Passion is important because it intensifies focus, enables innovation and creativity, motivates us to pursue excellence, energizes colleagues, helps us deal with fear, and keeps us contributing even when we’re not at our best. Purpose – Your ability to establish a clear purpose for yourself and others each day will make the difference between colleagues who are hanging on until the weekend and employees who can’t wait for Monday morning. If you can discover and communicate the greater meaning behind the work of your team, you’ll be on the path to enhanced production.

What Should You Be Discussing With Your Business Officer
Lander Medlin, Executive Vice President, APPA

Total Cost of Ownership – Module 3
Ana Thiemer, Associate Director – Planning & Project Services, University of Texas/Austin
Assets can be a piece of equipment to a system, to an entire facility or infrastructure project. Join us as APPA explores the critical importance of the Total Cost of Ownership.  This program is recommended for all levels of the facilities organization allowing everyone to be ‘on the same page’ with a common basic understanding of the goals and benefits. The course will introduce you to the specifics of the APPA 1000™ Total Cost of Ownership principles and how TCO is scalable and applicable to all your assets, from a single asset to your entire portfolio.

Challenging Personnel: What to Do?
Lynne Finn, AVP Facilities Management, University of Iowa
This class discusses the 10 categories of “difficult” people, looking at the reasons why they are the way they are, and provides some strategies for working with each group. Relates to the “whys” of decision-making or actions.

Demystifying Furniture’s Role in Sustainability
Jennifer Wammack, Director of Outreach, BIFMA
A mind-boggling number of environmental standards exist. It seems each day something is greener, better, and calling louder than the standards of years past. This course clarifies the process by defining and comparing leading programs on the market and then explaining the role of sustainable furniture within each. The course overlays the LEVEL rating system and explains its application and relevance to help demystify furniture’s role in sustainability.

Creating Smart Buildings with Fault Detection & Diagnostics
Katie Rossman, Manager, Building Analytics and Commissioning, University of Iowa
Discover how Big Data is finding its way into the facilities management profession and how our industry is increasingly positioning itself to harness and leverage the explosion of data collection and processing.  At the center of this facilities-related Big Data revolution is the deployment of Fault Detection and Diagnostics or FDD.  FDD holds the promise of moving our profession from a reactive service model to more of a predictive service model.  Learn how employing a monitoring-based commissioning model, built on data analytics, holds the promise of providing more efficient building operations, retaining energy conservation gains, and lowering the risks to business continuity by using a predictive maintenance approach.

Creating a Culture Of Respect & Dignity (Part 1)
Jamie Gayer, Assistant Vice President, Business Services, Indiana University
An interactive train-the-trainer program that teaches facilities leaders how to identify areas of opportunity, have hard conversations with staff, and create a culture that understands the importance of respect and valuing differences.

Cybersecurity Fundamentals for Facilities Professionals
Chris Smeds, Director of Technology & Innovation, University of Virginia
Today’s facilities management organizations depend on computers, networks, and information technology to accomplish their mission. This elective will discuss the critical role that cybersecurity plays in ensuring facilities management organizations can meet their service obligations. Cybersecurity topics discussed include the critical role(s) IT plays in an FM organization’s success; cyber risk assessment and contingency planning; cybersecurity practices for end-users; cybersecurity best practices for organizations; cybersecurity for building automation systems.

Prepared for Anything: Ensuring a Resilient Reliable Energy Supply
Todd Thurlow, Director of Distributed Energy Systems, Siemens Smart Infrastructure; Fred James, National Business Director, Higher Education, Siemens Smart Infrastructure
Maintaining a resilient energy supply is becoming increasingly important to campuses across the country. Improving the resilience of a campus energy supply can be achieved without sacrificing sustainability objectives or utility budgets. Through a combination of supply improvement measures, onsite generation technologies, and microgrid controls applications, a campus can drastically improve the resilience of its energy supply. Further, recent trends in utility project implementation have led to a broader range of outsourced options, which provides campuses greater flexibility to pursue resiliency projects while effectively managing capital resources.

Creating a Culture Of Respect & Dignity (Part 2)
Jamie Gayer, Assistant Vice President, Business Services, Indiana University
An interactive train-the-trainer program that teaches facilities leaders how to identify areas of opportunity, have hard conversations with staff, and create a culture that understands the importance of respect and valuing differences.

Building Envelope Inspection
Brent Anderson, P., Moisture Control Team Leader, STRUCTURAL TECHNOLOGIES; Mark Howell, Executive Vice President, Building Envelope Consultants, and Scientists
The building envelope is made up of many components that work together to keep a building protected from the environment. Without regular inspections and timely repairs, building envelope issues can quickly lead to costly property damage, tenant dissatisfaction, or worse – life-safety concerns.  A proper maintenance plan can extend the life of your structure, help you manage your maintenance budget, and optimize the scheduling of high priority repairs. But where do you begin?  Join us as we explore the understanding of components of a building envelope, areas to investigate in an annual facade inspection, the importance of spotting typical types of building envelope deterioration and serious life safety risks, and discuss different structure access methods.

Utilization of Waste Tracing in COVID-19
Chris Kopach, Assistant Vice President, The University of Arizona; Dr. Ian Pepper, The University of Arizona
In late August the University of Arizona began welcome back students allowing them to move on campus after getting a test for COVID-19. However the university was testing more than just their students, they were testing what they were sending down the drain. Humans shed viruses this way, and they can be detected about a week before the onset of symptoms, giving the university time to test, trace, and treat. Hear how this process became a strategic tool in the safety of the students, faculty, employees, and community at the University of Arizona from the facilities and research team who are on the frontline of this very innovative initiative.

Building Commissioning
Doug Litwiller, Manager, Business Development, Building Maintenance Optimization Consultants, Inc.
Learn about the process of building commissioning, why it is necessary, and how it helps deliver fully functional facilities. Discuss the process from project programming through design, construction, and into occupancy, operation, and maintenance. Review the costs and benefits of commissioning and explore how to tailor the commissioning process to the way an institution does business.

State of the State
Lander Medlin, Executive Vice President, APPA
As 2020 begins to wind down, let’s look back through the eyes of our association leader, Lander Medlin, as she shares insights on the changing landscape of the campus communities.