ERIC ED547779: Leveraging Facilities for Institutional Success. APPA Thought Leaders Series 2014

2014·0.55 MB·English

by  ERIC

A P P A T H O U G H T L E A D E R S S E R I E S 2 0 1 4
LEVERAGING
FACILITIES
FOR
INSTITUTIONAL
SUCCESS
Published by:
APPAis the association of choice serving educational facilities professionals and their institutions. APPA’s mission
is to support excellence with quality leadership and professional management through education, research, and
recognition. APPA’s Center for Facilities Researchengages in a deliberate search for knowledge critical to policy
making in education. CFaR encourages the study of the learning environment, appropriate management strategies,
and their impact on education.
APPA
1643 Prince Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314-2818
www.appa.org
www.appa.org/research/cfar/tls.cfm
With sponsorship assistance from:
Copyright © 2014 by APPA. All rights reserved.
International Standard Book Number: 1-890956-85-6
Produced in the United States of America
Contents
SECTION I: Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
SECTION II: Challenges for higher education institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
SECTION III: Strategies for improving institutional outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
1. Increase emphasis on student success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
2. Improve affordability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
3. Focus on the mission of the institution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
4. Allocate resources based on institutional priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
5. Increase reliance on data and business analytics to support decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
6. Prioritize environmental sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
SECTION IV: Facilities’ contributions to institutional goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
n Using facilities to advance institutional priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
n Transforming the facilities organization to meet institutional goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
SECTION V: Facilities’ strategies for improving institutional outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
1. Understand how facilities affect student success and employ best practices for student
recruitment and retention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
2. Use total cost of ownership as a guiding principle for all facilities decisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
3. Make better use of campus space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
4. Expand data collection and analysis to cut costs and increase efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
5. Use the campus as a classroom to expand awareness of sustainability and
facilities best practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
CONCLUSION: Embracing and advancing the need for change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
APPENDIX A: References and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
APPENDIX B: Participants in the 2014 Thought Leaders Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

2014
APPA Thought Leaders Series
Leveraging Facilities for
Institutional Success
Section I: Executive summary
H
igher education isn’t where it wants to be. Participants first examined the goals of colleges and uni-
North American colleges and universities strug- versities. Rather than envisioning some imaginary ideal
gle to focus on their mission of educating stu- institution, they sought to identify the key characteristics
dents and advancing knowledge in the face of of successful campuses. Then they looked at what insti- TLS
distractions such as slashed budgets, ballooning costs, tutions are actually achieving –the disagreeable reality of 1
and increased state and federal scrutiny. Expectations are unsustainable funding models, unsuccessful students,
growing at the same time resources are dwindling. and poorly utilized resources.
This is all the more frustrating because institutions Participants discussed how to bridge the gap be-
have worked incredibly hard under difficult circum- tween the goal and the reality. They proposed and evalu-
stances. Faculty, staff, and administrators have commit- ated numerous ways colleges and universities could
ted themselves to the painful process of reform during a position themselves for a successful future. True to
period of economic hardship. Institutions from the APPA’s role as leader of the higher education facilities
smallest liberal arts college to the largest land-grant state community, the group considered the challenge from a
universities—as well as urban community colleges, elite facilities point of view alongside other institutional per-
art schools, and advanced research institutes—have spectives. The result is a list of strategies that can be
responded to the call for change. Considering the adapted for individual campuses and combined to make
unprecedented circumstances of the Great Recession real strides in tackling persistent higher education
and its aftermath, they’ve accomplished a great deal, challenges.
and their thoughtful, creative responses must be
The most important take-away from the 2014 sym-
commended.
posium is this: higher education facilities can help
But the pressure isn’t letting up. The demands keep colleges and universities achieve their goals. Facilities
growing. And colleges and universities must continue to are more than a passive backdrop. They can contribute
adapt to their new reality. in meaningful, measurable ways to the mission of the in-
stitution. Successful campuses will be those that leverage
APPA constructed the 2014 Thought Leaders sym-
their facilities assets and operations to maximize their
posium to examine the gap between where higher edu-
potential.
cation wants to be and where it actually finds itself.
2014
APPA Thought Leaders Series
Optimal versus actual higher education n Prioritize environmental sustainability. Keep sustainabil-
outcomes ity as a goal even as multiple issues compete
for attention.
Colleges and universities are failing to meet several criti-
cal goals for the future.
The facilities contribution to optimal
n Instead of student successthey have frequentlyin-
outcomes
consistent educationaloutcomes.
n Instead of high rates of recruitment and retention Facilities assets and operations can advance institutional
they often havepoor recruitment and retention. goals in sometimes unexpected ways. The built environ-
n Instead of affordable tuition and feesmany have ment may seem like it would have little effect on student
limited access and lack of affordability. learning, when in fact well-designed classrooms support
n Instead of a financially sustainable business plan new teaching strategies such as problem-based and team
they have a cumbersome and unsustainable busi- learning. Other ways facilities help colleges and universi-
ness model. ties achieve their goals include the following:
n Instead of responsible use of space and other re- n Higher rates of recruitment and retention.The campus
sourcesthey regularly experienceineffective poli- plays a major role in creating positive impressions and
cies toward space management and utilization. building student engagement.
TLS n Instead of a clear mission and focussome suffer n More affordable tuition and fees.Efficient facilities
2 fromlack of focus and an unclear mission. operations can significantly reduce costs for the
n Instead of an environmentally sustainable campus institution.
they sometimes experience failure to prioritize envi- n Contribute to clear mission and focus.Strategic facilities
ronmental sustainability. planning enables the built environment to support the
institution’s mission.
To bridge the gap and move the institution closer
to its goals, colleges and universities need to adopt the n Responsible use of space and other resources. Effective
space management makes the most of the institution’s
following strategies:
single-greatest sunk cost.
n Increase emphasis on student success.Understand what
gets in the way of a successful education and system- n Environmentally sustainable campus. Rightsizing the
campus and minimizing operational impacts is
atically tackle these barriers.
required to improve institutional sustainability.
n Improve affordability.Employ a variety of strategies to
cut costs, increase funding, and improve access for To maximize their contribution to the institution,
students, including streamlined degree programs, facilities organizations should adopt the following
simplified approaches to tuition and discounting, and strategies:
locked-in tuition prices.
1. Understand how facilities affect student success
n Focus on the mission of the institution.Instead of being
and employ best practices for student recruitment
all things to all people, focus on what the campus
and retention.Facilities organizations can signifi-
does best.
cantly contribute to student success through smart
n Allocate resources based on institutional priorities.Align
strategies and creative use of buildings and grounds.
the use of resources with the mission of the college or
Facilities influence student success more than most
university.
administrators realize. Smart institutions recognize
n Increase reliance on data and business analytics to support
the value of the built environment in attracting, re-
decisions.Identify the strategic questions that can be
answered with data and use business intelligence sys- taining, and teaching students; they invest in making
tems to make smarter decisions. their campus more student-friendly.
2014
APPA Thought Leaders Series
2. Use total cost of ownership (TCO) as a guiding ning. Yet facilities play an important role in the educa-
principle for all facilities decisions. Employing tional experience, and a peek behind the curtain at fa-
TCO enables institutions to make better investments cilities operations can give students greater insight
in buildings and systems. Discussion about the costs into issues of sustainability and energy use and raise
of facilities is usually divided into the same two cate- awareness of facilities throughout the institution.
gories that show up on balance sheets: initial con-
struction costs and ongoing maintenance, operations,
The Thought Leaders process
and renewal costs. What’s missing is an understand-
The issues discussed in this Thought Leaders report are
ing that the two costs are related. In fact, facilities can
the result of an intensive process that draws on the wis-
cost twice as much to maintain and renew as they do
dom and insight of higher education experts from the
to build. TCO takes this fundamental fact into ac-
United States and Canada. At a two-day symposium,
count by calculating and communicating the lifetime
higher education experts both in facilities management
costs of a facility.
and in operations from finance to HR meet to analyze is-
3. Make better use of campus space. Colleges and uni-
sues, discuss the effect of these issues on the built envi-
versities can cut costs and improve efficiency by maxi-
ronment, and propose strategies to prepare for the
mizing the use of their space. Underutilized space is a
future. The yearly Thought Leaders report summarizes
wasted resource. Colleges and universities should be TLS
the discussions at the symposium as well as provides ad-
finding every opportunity to maximize the utilization 3
ditional context about major trends.
of resources, and that means taking seriously the
The purpose of the report is both to inform and to
problem of space.
prompt discussion. Senior campus facilities officers use
4. Expand data collection and analysis to support de-
this report as a resource both within their own depart-
cisions to cut costs and increase efficiency. By in-
ments and with their counterparts in space management,
creasing the amount of data they collect and
IT, finance, HR, student services, and administration.
providing new tools to analyze that data, institutions
Past Thought Leaders reports have focused on the rising
can strengthen their decision-making processes. Busi-
cost of higher education, space management and utiliza-
ness analytics has enormous potential for institutions
tion, workplace demographics, the role of technology,
seeking to make their operational decisions more
and energy and sustainability.
data-driven. Higher education has lagged behind
other industries in adopting business intelligence sys-
Harnessing every available resource for
tems, but well-designed analytics systems have the
the institution
potential to help institutions measure progress on
strategic and tactical goals, support decision making, Higher education has settled uncomfortably into the
provide rapid feedback on ongoing efforts, and vali- knowledge that the tight budgets and increased de-
date or discredit assumptions. mands on their institutions aren’t going away. All the
quick fixes have been exhausted. Campuses must figure
5. Use the campus as a classroom to expand aware-
out how to succeed in this new normal.
ness of sustainability and facilities best practices.
Facilities organizations can develop innovative ways One strategy that deserves more attention is to dig
to use the built environment as a teaching tool and di- deep and make the most of existing resources. Colleges
rectly involve students with sustainability and effi- and universities have invested billions in their buildings,
ciency efforts. Facilities staff typically have only grounds and infrastructure. They continue to spend mil-
limited interaction with students, and most students lions to operate, maintain, and renew their facilities.
have no idea what goes into keeping the campus run-
2014
APPA Thought Leaders Series
The campus should be considered as valuable to administration ensures the resource is preserved and
the institution as its endowment. In fact, the campus is a managed to benefit future generations. The same should
sort of physical endowment, an investment that provides be true of facilities. Colleges and universities should
ongoing returns to the college or university. No institu- leverage their facilities investment for the maximum re-
tion would squander its financial endowment; careful turn for the institution.
TLS
4
2014
APPA Thought Leaders Series
Section II:
Challenges for higher education institutions
What will determine success? Symposium participants emphasized goals such as “stu-
dents leave the institution prepared for their careers,”
Participants at the Thought Leaders symposium began
“students show good citizenship and leadership,” and
with this goal in mind, and they set the parameters that
“students are critical thinkers.”
will determine success in higher education.
Similarly, the American Federation of
In the future, successful colleges and universities
Teachers proposes that student success has three
will demonstrate the following:
elements: knowledge, intellectual ability, and profes-
Student success. No matter what else they seek to ac- sional/technical skills. Knowledge includes both an ap-
complish, the primary goal of colleges and universities is propriate level of knowledge in a selected area of study
to educate their students. Symposium participants and exposure to knowledge of the physical and natural TLS
agreed a good education should be both broad and world, cultural and intercultural knowledge, civic 5
deep; it should provide specific skills and information in knowledge and engagement, and ethics. Intellectual abil-
a chosen area of study as well as more generalized ities encompass critical thinking, problem solving, inde-
knowledge to be a well-rounded member of society. pendent learning, analysis of information, and synthesis.
Data Point:
Best practices in retention
Effective retention strategies by institution type
Four-year private Four-year public Two-year public
1. Academic support programs or 1. Honors programs for academically 1. Tutoring
services advanced students
2. Programs designed specifically for 2. Programs designed specifically for 2. Academic support programs or
first-year students first-year students services
3. Giving students practical work 3. Academic support programs or 3. Honors programs for academically
experiences in their intended major services advanced students
to apply their learning
4. Honors programs for academically 4. Providing supplementary instruction 4. Mandatory advising by professional
advanced students staff, one-on-one
5. Tutoring 5. Learning communities 5. Giving students practical work
experiences in their intended major
to apply their learning
—Noel-Levitz, “2013 Student Retention and College Completion Practices Report for Four-Year
and Two-Year Institutions,” Noel-Levitz Benchmark Reports, 2013.
2014
APPA Thought Leaders Series
Professional and technical skills include skills for specific gree, many young adults will be shut out of the future.
areas of study as well as abilities such as written and oral
Successful institutions will find creative, sustain-
communication, information literacy, and teamwork.
able ways to ensure that a college education is within
High rates of recruitment and retention.Retention is re- reach of every student, without the burden of crippling
ceiving increased attention in higher education, with debt. Participants at the Thought Leaders symposium
several states adopting performance-based funding sys- called for “higher education access to all those who want
tems that allocate some degree of funding based on per- to go.”
formance indicators, including course completion and
Financially sustainable business plan.Successful insti-
time-to-graduation. Institutions have also recognized
tutions will rely on an operating and funding model that
that it’s far more cost-effective to retain existing students
is sustainable over the long term. The elements of this
than to recruit new ones.
model remain unclear and will likely vary from institu-
The most effective strategies for improving reten- tion to institution. However, it seems likely that major
tion are related to academic goals, academic-related changes will be needed at many colleges and universi-
skills, and academic self-confidence. These strategies in- ties. Those institutions that will thrive going forward will
clude high-quality academic advising, tutoring, and aca- be those that find ways to significantly cut costsandin-
demic support programs. Successful institutions focus crease incomeover the long term.
TLS
their efforts on programs for first-year students, since
6
students are more likely to drop out of higher education
Data Point:
during their first year than any other time. Programs de- Rethinking the higher education
signed for first-year students were identified as the sec- business model
ond-most-important strategy for retention by a survey of
When the bag of tricks is empty
four-year private institutions by educational consulting
firm Noel-Levitz, right behind academic support pro- “[Higher education business officers] have been
grams and services. using a set of strategies to try to do what they al-
ready do better, but they’ve exhausted the bag of
Recruitment is an essential factor in institutional
tricks they’ve been using to try to keep it all together.
success. Smart colleges and universities will rely on data-
There’s not another rabbit in there. They get that the
driven marketingto appeal to students most likely to en-
business model isn’t working, but they don’t quite
roll. They’ll focus on strategies that have proven
see the bridge to the next model. And they seem to
successful, such as campus visits and open house events,
have some concern that maybe there isn’t a bridge.”
rather than those with low rates of success, such as bill-
—Richard Staisloff, founder of educational
board and bus ads and radio promotions.
consulting firm RPK Group, quoted in “CFO Survey Re-
Affordable tuition and fees.Higher education affordabil- veals Doubts about Financial Sustainability,”
ity is tied to economic prosperity. A college degree pro- Inside Higher Ed, July 12, 2013.
vides greater economic security for individuals as well as
entire nations. When access to higher education is con-
Responsible use of space and other resources.Success-
strained by ballooning costs, fewer people can reach the
ful institutions will take nothing for granted. Every re-
middle class, and the entire economy suffers. The situa-
source will be conserved and shepherded for the benefit
tion will only become more extreme as the information
of the institution. This will mean reevaluating long-term
and creative sectors of the economy grow; three-quarters
practices and policies—including unwritten policies—
of the fastest-growing occupations require education and
that have governed how colleges and universities use
training beyond a high school diploma. Without a de-
their space. Space will no longer be an abused resource