Page 19 - College Planning & Management, July/August 2018

PHOTO COURTESY OF AEI CONSULTANTS
Taking Stock of Your Facilities
Colleges and universities can improve facilities management and maximize budget efficiency through comprehensive, campus- wide assessments.
B Y K Y L E C H R I S T I A N S E N
process for maintaining their facilities. A centralized program can strategically align the maintenance, management, renovation, and construction of campus facilities with the school’s mission.
In this article, we’ve outlined the processes for and benefits of campus- wide facility assessments and capital planning for educational institutions.
Start With a Comprehensive Evaluation
The buildings that make up the campus or campuses of a college or uni- versity can vary greatly in size, design, materials, use, and vintage. They can be decades to hundreds of years old, or they could have just opened their doors last month. They can be composed of wood, brick, metal, glass, concrete, stucco, tile, or any combination of a wide variety of materials.
As such, they all have unique needs
ONE OF THE PRIMARY challenges facing higher education is the prioritization of facility management budgets amid rising
costs. Maintaining campus facilities
is an often-overlooked but critical component of operating an educational institution.
University and college cam-
puses require constant and consistent maintenance to manage their facility
assets, which so many invest in. How can a college or university’s facilities management and maintenance staff strategically determine a course of ac- tion—and the best use of budget—for a campus that could include dozens, or even hundreds, of individual buildings?
High-performing facility and asset managers seek out a thorough evalua- tion of their campuses and implement a comprehensive asset management and capital planning program. Universities and colleges can establish a centralized
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