Ted Weidner is assistant vice chancellor of facilities management & planning, Universityof Nebraska– Lincoln , Lincoln, Nebraskaand president of Facility Asset Consulting. He can be reached at tweidner2@unlnotes.unl.edu.

There’s nothing better than to have a mechanical expert step forward and offer to review a book about mechanical systems. Thankfully, John Casey is willing to step out of retirement and help those of us who are busy understand the value of a good book about building systems. Just in case you haven’t committed to all your summer projects, look at these books; they might help you make better decisions. Then to top it off, check out John’s recommendation on the history of American higher education. John took the time to write about books that fit his background and interests, how about you?

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Practical Controls: A Guide to Mechanical Systems, by Steven R. Calabrese. Lilburn, Georgia: The Fairmont Press, 2003, 469 pages,hardcover.

Practical Controlsis a technical handbook which has merit for every institution. The author has succeeded in systematizing the chaos that exists in the fieldof complicated mechanical controls which operate the environmentalsystems for most modern buildings. While not specifically written for educational facilities, this book successfully covers the field of electronic and computer-based heating, ventilation, and mechanical (HVAC) controls which are employed to manage indoor conditions in our structures.

Someone on every campus must have at least a general knowledge of this continually evolving and expensive component of each facility on campus, and Practical Controls is an excellent primer for this subject. This book is not meant for the presidentor the vice-president for facilities management. However, institutions should consider purchasing this for the person who answers the bell when building systems fail to maintain appropriate comfort levels whetherit be the Genetics Laboratory, the Faculty Lounge, or, God forbid, thePresident’s Office.

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Handbook of Facility Assessment, by James E. Piper. Lilburn, Georgia: The Fairmont Press, 2004, 452 pages, hardcover.

Recent articles in Facilities Manager concerning facility audits and assessments have been numerous and instructive. Brian Fenn’s description of such work at Queensland University of Technology in the September/October 2004 issue is a great example of the wealth of excellent information available in this area. Clearly, the results of thorough and accurate assessments can assist leaders to do the right things and managers to do the things right (my apologies to the originator of that profound comparison for forgetting his or her name).

James Piper presents a handbook for evaluating generic buildings; it is not specifically aimed at educational facilities. As a result, the cook-book approach, complete with forms for each building component, maynot cover all the bases in a typical academic/research/public service setting. The book, however, does have merit for facilities that may lack high-powered research and specialized buildings. Unfortunately, some of the principal functions and components of “typical” higher and postsecondary educational campuses are not mentioned, including indoor recreation courts, laboratories, and food service facilities, to name a few.

This handbook may help facilities management professionals who are just starting to implement an assessment program; if you are in that mode, I would suggest that you purchase the book to get a general feel for the process and the commitment involved in such an exercise. However, institutions already undertaking facility audits and assessments would probably not benefit from the book.

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A History of American Higher Education, by John R. Thelin. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, 421 pages, softcover.

The developmentof higher education is a special and interesting subset of the history of the United States . The study of higher education history and higher education law are staple courses in the curriculum of graduate degree programs on most college campuses in the country. In fact, each course complements the other, since many historic milestones in the academic world are the cause or the result of legal matters. The history course, however, remains the primary framework for advanced study of the role of higher education in the United States beginning with the founding of Harvard. Facilities managers can and should profit from the information available to us from this special field of knowledge.

Unfortunately, the quantity of books available on the subject of higher education history from 1636 to the present is limited, and over 40 years have passed since the last group of readable and comprehensive histories was printed. Finally, however, John Thelin has produced a well written and engaging review of higher education’s journey into the fabric of our culture.

The book does contain all the whistles and bells of a scholarly work, including endnotes and references representing years of research and study, and could easily have been another boring and dry “tiptoe through the historical tulips.” But, thank goodness, it is not that at all.

The author has divided the history into eight time periods, reflectinghis selection of events which definelogically-associated eras in the development of the academy. The information is presented in a conversational style which engages and retains the reader’s attention, as all good books must do. Clearly, Dr. Thelin has raised the bar for historians of higher education to clear in the future, and everyone associated with college and university life is better for it.

I used to think that there were only three universal rules for success in higher education facilitiesmanagement:

1. Say YES to the President.
2. Say MAYBE to the Deans andVice-Presidents.
3. Say NO to everyone else.

I will now add a fourth rule;

4. Learn all you can about our profession.

An excellent way to implement number four would be to get a copyof John Thelin’s A History of American Higher Education.