Lander Medlin is APPA’s executive vice president. She can be reached at lander@appa.org.

No doubt at your institution programs come and go, students come and go, faculty and staff come and go, and even presidents come and go. However, when you really think about it and look closely, facilities—the buildings and grounds—are the one real constant. Facilities have permanence. The image they make and the impressions they create cannot and should not be underestimated by campus stakeholders.

The total current replacement value for our campus facilities exceeds that of the total endowment by almost threefold. Yet, for most senior institutional officers, this costly and important asset is the least understood. Granted, facilities are no longer viewed as just an expense on the balance sheet, but instead as an asset, a tangible strategic investment. And if properly used and maintained, facilities can be a substantive recruitment and retention tool for students and faculty and can enhance present revenue streams. The additional challenge is to go beyond the tangible benefits represented in dollars and cents to consider their intangible appeal.

Just as a newly purchased house quickly becomes a home in the minds of its family members, so too do your institution’s facilities to the faculty, students, staff, and alumni. Ultimately, we all want to make a visceral, emotional connection with and through our facilities. For example, the facilities at your school should create the perception of safety and security; create that sense of place, that sense of community; represent a place where learning occurs both inside and outside the classroom; and should be the allure for the return of your alumni. The campus—its physical structures and grounds—is what is remembered! What kind of perception are you creating? What type of memories are you making? The decisions you make and the actions you take regarding your long-term planning strategies and your day-to-day operational tactics will make all the difference in the world in whether the perception of your school’s infrastructure is positive and memorable. And essential, if we are going to ensure a direct and meaningful connection to the institution’s vision, mission, and strategy—its core purpose for being.

Yet, for the facilities professional, it is what is behind those walls that really count. It’s a balancing act to:

1) ensure the façade provides the curb appeal necessary for a strong institutional competitive advantage;

2) ensure the façade is not hung on a decaying infrastructure; and,

3) ensure the ability of the institution to maximize the tangible and intangible return on its facilities investment.

Hence, through surveys, focus groups, and one-on-one conversations, you have provided us insight into the critical issues you are facing today and well into the future. Although the top ten critical facilities issues are briefly highlighted below, please visit APPA’s website (www.appa.org) where we will focus on one issue each month and provide more detailed information and resources.

• Resource Scarcity. Although the economy shows signs of resurgence and recovery, it is clear that the competition for institutional resources will remain fierce. Yet as stated in a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article (January 7, 2005) titled “Outlook 2005: A Year of Recovery,”“. . many administrators are focusing on not-so-glamorous, fiscally conservative strategies: energy conservation . . . and catching up on maintenance.” We have an opportunity and we need to be prepared to meet this opportunity with solid strategies and plans for reducing energy and utilities consumption and costs and emphasizing renewal and recapitalization programs.
• Sustainability. The Native Americans have captured the meaning of sustainability in their “Law of Seven Generations.”  This law means that decisions are based on consideration of the consequences of one’s actions over seven generations. This kind of thinking and action for planning, designing, constructing, and maintaining our facilities, utilities infrastructure, and grounds over their life cycle represents a sea-change in thinking and planning for our campuses. However, it is precisely this holistic approach we need regarding sustainability and indeed all facilities issues.
• Information Technology. IT demands and requirements in today’s facilities are burgeoning. Effectively integrating changing technologies in classrooms and managing technologically sophisticated building systems and equipment will be a key factor for our success. We must design for flexible and adaptable spaces if we are to keep pace with shorter and shorter IT life cycles.
• Space Planning, Management, and Utilization. We cannot forget that space links everyone on campus and these places are what we value and treasure. However mundane it seems, it is essential to have an accurate asset inventory as baseline data and standards for any facilities work. This will help determine how well you are using what you have. Nevertheless, the mechanics of the data and its collection is just the beginning. More importantly, it requires an assessment of how this data and information aligns with the institution’s mission and a determination of what it means for future institutional decisions.
• Deferred Maintenance/Modernization. It is important to prepare a comprehensive deferred maintenance plan that incorporates facilities condition data, aligns with the campus master plan, addresses energy conservation measures, and supports the institutional mission. The trick here will be to change the thinking from a look backwards (deferred maintenance) to a more forward-looking approach (life cycle costing) to preserve your facilities’ investment. It will be critical for senior institutional officers to understand that throughout the life of a project, the “total cost of ownership” consists of approximately one-third for new construction costs; one-third for operations, maintenance, and utilities costs; and one-third for the renewal and recapitalization costs.
• Energy and Environmental Management. These two areas go hand-in-hand if we take sustainability seriously. Further, it will be important to establish a good energy resource management plan that addresses fuel flexibility, system reliability, vulnerability, sustainable design practice, alternative energy use, life cycle impacts, and energy conservation measures.
• Performance Measurement/ Accountability. Having good credible data, consistent terminology and definitions, appropriate standards, common metrics and measures are only pieces of the equation. These items must enhance our ability to establish priorities, make informed decisions, and drive solutions that are in alignment with the institution’s mission. There is no real value to the measures in and of themselves; we have to take action with them.
• Safety and Security. Government regulations, code compliance, and unfunded mandates continue to plague us both financially and operationally. As “owners,” the life safety and health issues on our campuses are our highest priority. Nevertheless, complying with federal, state, and local mandates, including security requirements intended to prevent terrorism, is likely to make the operation of campus facilities more expensive in the coming year.
• Customer Service. Communication, both internally and externally, is the key ingredient in building long-term, collaborative relationships and trust within the facilities department and throughout the community. More time and effort will be needed to enhance the communication skills of all facilities staff if we are to positively impact customer service.
• Workforce Issues. In essence, we are all concerned about the recruitment and retention of qualified technical staff and their content/skills training and development. In addition, the ability to develop an engaged workforce with competent, focused, and confident staff represents the ultimate productivity challenge. Frankly, without good people, it is practically impossible to ensure good facilities.

In the final analysis, we must ensure that our facilities:

• create a visceral, memorable, and positive connection with the community,
• are viable and healthy structures well beyond the façade we create,
• are sustainable, and
• enhance the institution’s revenue streams to a greater degree than ever before.