Facility Management Systems for Education
By: Janice Youngwith

Building a firm spiritual foundation is the cornerstone for most faith-based organizations hoping to shape the futures of their young students. But many Christian educators report that maintaining the building's actual bricks and mortar can be an even more time-consuming and daunting challenge.

Saving money through operational efficiency is key, according to many religious leaders who struggle with financial stewardship and day-to-day building maintenance issues, including plumbing, heating, roof replacement needs, structural integrity, lighting, space and incident management, and more.

Classroom teachers, on the front lines educating future generations, say that writing a work request to get a light bulb changed or a computer fixed, carrying that request to the office for approvals, and having it disappear somewhere in the maintenance work request stream is frustrating and inefficient.

Thanks to 21st-century technology in the form of an easy-to-use, Web-based facilities management program, teachers, administrators, and religious leaders are able to free themselves to teach and minister to the needs of their students, while getting the most out of their buildings and environment.

“With everything from school inventories to the constant stream of preventive and routine maintenance requests, it makes good business sense to have the knowledge needed for strategic decision-making,” says Stephen Holmes, physical properties manager at the 6,000-member Calvary Baptist Church and 400-student K-12 school in Salem , North Carolina . “We needed a way to track, prioritize and monitor our needs at our 37-acre, five-building campus.”

Glenn Wallace, maintenance supervisor at the 3,500-student Trinity Western University near Vancouver , Canada , couldn't agree more when it comes to technology's role in accountability.

“With nearly 30 buildings covering our 60-acre campus, we needed a system to gather facility-related work orders to better determine what we do and track outsourcing needs,” he reports. “In addition to on-demand repair requests, tracking preventive maintenance efforts is key when it comes to maintaining equipment or obtaining appropriate insurance and premiums.”

Tracking reports, he adds, allows the small Christian university to show due diligence when obtaining property insurance and lower premiums.

“Tracking things like infrared photography of electrical boxes to identify hot spots and pinpointing risk allows us to solve potential problems before they become major liabilities and even greater, most costly repair and replacement projects,” he notes.

Wade McElya, director of operations at Northwest Bible Church in Dallas , says an affordable facilities management process that targets management solutions for faith-based communities is the perfect solution to their decades-old challenge for initiating and tracking work requests, needs, people, and much more.

“Convenient, cost-efficient control of the worship place and campus buildings—including schools, rectories, assembly halls, and offices—pinpoints the need to stay on top of daily processes and the ability to monitor activities and needs,” explains McElva, who notes that since implementing the technology in January, more than 800 work tickets have been processed and completed for the seven buildings on the organization's 9.2- acre campus in the middle of Dallas.

“The simple, Web-based tools allow us quick access to facility data for improved decision-making, planning, and more efficient operation,” he adds. “Because we're not a business, our needs and priorities are somewhat different. The technology allows us to monitor and track how our time is spent, whether painting a wall, repairing a leaky faucet, or preparing and hanging posters for a classroom worship program.”

Other applications allow educational leaders like Mary Rehfield, principal at St. Faith, Hope and Charity Catholic School in suburban Chicago , to track school supplies and inventory for the facility, which includes 330 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

“With nearly $10,000 spent on disposable inventory annually, the technology allows us to track on-hand supplies and reorder as necessary,” she reports. “Our teachers say the on-demand work ordering system, which is available to all faculty and parish staff members, is easy to learn and means that access is close at hand.”

Larry Baker, director of operations at the 750-student St. Francis High School in Wheaton , Illinois , says being able to track preventive maintenance efforts at his 130,000-square-foot building is important, especially now that the school is installing rooftop air conditioning units.

“We needed a system to ensure proper maintenance for these capital expenditures, as well as the day-to-day routine maintenance needs,” reports Baker.

“Thanks to the Internet and adaptable Web-based software, faith-based leaders and educators now more easily can understand the true cost of facility operations, monitor daily activities, improve the quality of their environment, extend the life of buildings, and improve overall financial fitness,” says John Conlon, co-founder and owner of FacilityTree, a comprehensive facilities management company.

The hosted user-friendly system features a variety of applications, including asset management, building reporting, event scheduling, EZ order consumable inventory, lease and property management, facility survey, move tracks for moves, add and changes, on-demand work orders, preventive maintenance, project financial, incident and even space management.

Applications are available in a variety of combinations to encompass multiple areas of expertise and interest, all sharing a database for easy integration. Hardware requirements include only a computer with a Web browser and an Internet connection.

Janice Youngwith is a freelance writer on assignment for FacilityTree, www.FacilityTree.com .

 

Sidebar
Increasing Maintenance Staffing and Resources

Ask any private school maintenance and operations official the top problems facing their department today, and there will likely be a resounding echo of answers related to inadequate staffing levels.

A 2003 survey of school operations professionals conducted by SchoolDude.com revealed that more than 85 percent of respondents felt they needed more staff for maintenance. Of those who indicated this need for additional employees, the average response requested an increase of more than 55 percent in staff from current manpower levels.

Unfortunately, not much has changed during the past few years. Still stretched too thin, facilities departments continue to struggle to keep up with growing to-do lists and inadequate resources.

So, what can understaffed M&O departments do to justify the resources needed to meet the demands of properly maintaining their schools' facilities? Although it seems counter-intuitive, the mistake many facility professionals make is to ask for the money first. It is actually more effective to follow a four-step plan that supports and builds up to the funding and staffing request.

1. Improve the department's image.
M&O departments often suffer from a “perception gap” because administrators do not fully understand the challenges operations professionals face and all the work they perform. Additionally, the facilities team is statistically understaffed 20 to 22 percent, so the department cannot always provide all the services and work expected or desired by school administration. The first step is to change the M&O department's image is documenting and communicating all the work currently being performed, as well as employing technology that immediately and greatly changes the department's image.

2. Establish a respected methodology.
Administrators often assume the M&O department does not have business processes, technology and systems in place to effectively manage existing resources. When the department establishes a respected methodology to manage resources and demonstrates it daily, the administration will be far more likely to entrust operations officials with additional resources.

Web-native solutions are an increasingly attractive option, especially in times of budget shortfalls, because they have the proven ability to maximize limited resources and tightened budgets. The technology is highly cost-effective because it typically generates productivity and efficiency gains of 15 percent or more by streamlining operations processes, which, in turn, helps extend the life of your facility infrastructures, improve customer satisfaction, reduce operations costs, and relieve capital budgets.

3. Educate decision makers and decision influencers.
Many of those who approve operations budgets and resource requests are not experienced and knowledgeable in M&O. Before presenting them a request for more resources, the department must first invest the time and effort to educate them about the problems and considerations that exist.

4. Request additional staff, money, and resources.
After completing the first three steps, the department has now created an environment conducive to receiving a favorable response. When making the request to an educated decision maker who knows that M&O has a respected methodology in place and the proper systems to manage resources, always include a value proposition. What are all the benefits associated with the request, including financial benefits? How does the request contribute to the overall objectives of the school?

Today, more than ever, private school operations professionals are facing unprecedented challenges to keep pace with increasing demands for best-in-class, competitive facilities. By using this simple four-step process, you too can receive the funding and staffing you need.

This article is courtesy of SchoolDude.com.