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

At the ERAPPA regional meeting, I was delighted to give the opening "call to action" which framed and set the tone for their overriding educational theme "The Future of the Facility Professional." What follows are my remarks.

Just imagine what it would feel like if your job was being totally reshaped right before your eyes; it is. That's right, it is, because the world as many of us once knew it no longer exists. No less alarming than for the Russian cosmonaut Krikalev who left Leningrad in 1991for a 313-day journey into space. He returned to a city no longer on the map, to a country no longer in existence.

We are definitely in the midst of a new paradigm shift (each shift occurring more rapidly than the previous one). We have moved from hunters & foragers to an agrarian society; through an Industrial Revolution; and into a knowledge explosion. This transition has been characterized as the Age of Technology, the Age of Information, the Age of Communication, the Age of Connectivity, hence, the Age of Knowledge.

Just look at a few interesting statistics that you may find either enlightening or disheartening, depending upon your attitude and perspective. Did you know that:

• One weekday edition of the New York Times contains more information than the average person would have encountered in their entire lifetime in the 17th century.
• More information has been produced in the last 30 years than the previous 5,000.
• The information supply available to us today doubles every four years.
• We wear more computing power on our wrists than what existed prior to 1961.
• There is more computing capability in a little Furby doll than what existed aboard the original Lunar Lander Module.

A CEO aptly described to me the impact of information technology on our daily lives saying, "Those not proficient with information technology stand the chance of being 'road kill' on the side of the information super- highway." Put another way, what the interstate highway transportation system did for transportation and travel in the 1950s and '60s, the Internet is doing for the transmission of information, messages, and education now and hereafter. So Bette Davis was right when she said in All About Eve, "Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy night!"

The fact is the world is changing dramatically and at a phenomenally rapid pace. Think for a moment about this illustration: Drop a physician of today into the 5th century and he could not practice medicine. Drop a professor of today into the 5th century and he could/ he would fit right into the classroom.

That is no longer acceptable given the tidal waves of this paradigm shift and the resultant sea changes occurring in the higher education industry (let alone those of the entire educational system).

The focus is shifting from: teaching to learning; faculty to student; one-way to two-way; passive to inter- active, an environment no longer bound by time and place; producer to consumer; and monopoly to competition.

We are a market-driven, growth industry. We are a business-make no mistake about it-with all the trappings, trials, and tribulations of managing both expenses and revenues. And do not mistake this as a pendulum shift but a fundamental paradigm shift in our operating environment. As I said in the beginning, the very fabric of the higher education enterprise (and the facilities profession) is being rewoven right before our very eyes. So, why should you care? Why do you have to care? This quote from EDUCAUSE magazine in Barry Munitz' article "Changing Landscape: From Cottage Monopoly to Competitive Industry" captures the heart and core of the changes before us: "Boundaries and the physical artifacts we associated with them are dissolving. Infrastructure will be defined more in terms of fiber and electronics than land and buildings; institutions are being transformed into 'learning environments' that are independent of both time and place."

And, if that is not already too much to bear, higher education objectives too are changing more dramatically than you might think: from, socialization to maturation; training to learning; credentials to competencies; research to discovery; public service to engagement; recognition to credibility. The essence of this change in higher education's objectives was embraced most recently by the Kellogg Foundation in their monograph series prepared by representative presidents of NASULGC (National Association of State Universities Land and Grants Colleges). In this monograph they spoke of the key purpose of higher education as it has been over the last 100 years. We could all recite it for it exists in most of our mission statements: "Education, Research, & Public Service." From my perspective, this has been our mantra. In the new pact they were describing they need to make with the general public, they transformed this purpose to that of "Learning, Discovery, & Engagement!" Catch the language?! Is it just semantics or do you catch the shift from passive to active, from one-way to two-way, from isolation to involvement and integration within the entire community. It is all changing! But, WOW! What a great place to be, this education industry! Maybe, maybe not!

You will have to decide and ultimately make that choice. Because, as higher education is not immune to these sea changes; neither are we. So should we view these sea changes as a challenge or a curse, an opportunity or an obstacle? This is worth pondering and a little reflection. As you do so, consider this story about Thomas Edison:

In December 1914 a great sweeping fire destroyed his research laboratory in West Orange, New Jersey wiping out $2 million worth of equipment and the record of much of his life's work. Edison's son, Charles, frantically looked for his father and finally saw him standing near the fire, his face ruddy in the glow and his white hair being blown by the winter winds. He said, "My heart ached for him." He was no longer young and everything was being destroyed. Edison spotted Charles and shouted, "Where's your mother? Find her. Bring her here. She'll never see anything like this again as long as she lives." Next morning walking among the charred embers he said, "There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up! Thank God, we can start anew."

It is difficult not to feel that our life's work is being burned up amidst this great sweeping fire of change. But as Edison's attitude teaches us, we can start anew." And we must!

As higher education's objectives are changing, so too must the objectives of the facilities profession. But, how do we fit it? In this instance, a view from the past is instructive. Consider what Gary Reynolds calls "The Cascade of the Facilities Management Profession."

• 1914 - We were considered Buildings & Grounds Superintendents;
• 1950s - We changed to Physical Plant Administrators;
• 1980s - We considered ourselves Facilities Officers;
• 1990s to present - Asset Managers;
• Futures - Stewards of the Institution Mission.

A bit overwhelming? Disconcerting? Whether you agree or not doesn't matter. The process of considering who we are and what we have to offer when it comes to our future role and responsibility is the most important consideration at this point in time. But I do challenge you to consider this shift in thinking and focus sooner rather than later, because we cannot shrink from the task before us. Our industry is at a critical juncture; a crossroads that needs all our best efforts.

As I mentioned in my last article, tomorrow is upon us today! So we must seize the day - "Carpe Diem." It is the power of now. But, maybe more importantly, given the context of change I described earlier, are the words I saw emblazoned on a T-shirt - "Carpe Manana," "Seize Tomorrow." "Seize Tomorrow . . . Before it seizes you!!" Because there is a new look and feel to this new paradigm.

The look is one of competing demands and expectations, increasing accountability, a market-driven network economy, a customer relation- ship focus (like none other we've seen), a surge of powerful new technologies, globalization, and multiculturalism.

The feel is one of sustained speed, heightened urgency, immediacy, impatience, unpredictability, flexibility, and adaptability. All at a pace that has accelerated to a stunning degree.

We need to claim it, embrace it, create it, and change it all at once. In essence, we must reinvent ourselves, our organizations, and our institutions; we must explore new ways of thinking and new approaches to doing our business; we must be problem-finders and problem-solvers at the same time; and we must be able to shift roles at a moment's notice. Only you can do that. It's your decision. It's your choice!

Yet, I am not of a mind that this is all bad news. There is good news too. I firmly believe that many of you are already on your way, engaging this transformation by asking the right questions and pondering the answers. Your choice to be members of APPA so that you keep up-to-date on the latest information and education resources, thereby taking an active role in your professional development, is an important step.

If you will actively seek and take hold of APPA's programs, products, and services you will be equipped to challenge outmoded approaches to our business; transform the way we think about our business; secure and practice the skills and abilities you need to be successful; utilize newly developed and formulated models for educating senior institutional officers about our business; and learn and use the language of leadership and the language of business.

Frankly, these are all essential ways we must engage to break out of our present "comfort zone." Because just as IT and Finance are strategic for higher education, so is Facilities Management/ Facilities Leadership, if we view ourselves as Asset Managers, and as Stewards of the Institution Mission. But our old ways of thinking, our traditional approaches to problems, our well-honed habits, and our comfort level with all this change, is hard to break and re-make. I would liken how difficult it is to launch a space craft.

Take Apollo 11 for example. To get the craft to the moon, it has to literally break out of the tremendous gravitational pull of the earth. There is more energy spent during lift-off and the first few miles of travel than over the next several days. Similarly, it takes a tremendous amount of individual effort, will power, discipline, and active engagement to "lift-off" from our present comfort zone or old habits.

But once we break out of our gravitational pull, our new found freedom takes on a whole new dimension and there is no telling how far we can go! It is clear what we must do. Will we choose to do it? As Goethe once said, "Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."