Elective Offerings
September 13 – 17, 2015
Monday, September 14, 2015
1:00 pm – 2:40 pm
520: Project Management
Project management isn't just about construction but is useful in any project that you are doing. This class will
provide an overview of the five process groups of Project Management - initiating, planning, executing, controlling,
and closing - and the project manager's roles and responsibilities.
Faculty Member: Mary Vosevich
522: Employment and Labor Law
After each session, every participant should be able to explain the history of employment and labor laws of the
United States. They should understand the relationship between employers and employees. How said
relationship is regulated by the employment and labor laws of both Federal and State statutes. They will also be
aware of those major cases that were handed down by the District and Supremes courts and application of
employment and labor laws.
Faculty Member: Robert Crowder
526: Recycling and Waste Management
This course will provide an overview of recycling and solid waste management programs. Discussion topics will
include contract alternatives, collection system design, performance measures, financial aspects, environmental
impact, current technology, and future trends.
Faculty Member: Ed von Bliechert
529: Emergency Preparedness
An increasing number of higher education institutions are placing more emphasis on emergency preparedness.
Earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, and other natural disasters have all taken their toll on our campuses. This
presentation will include recounts of actual devastating events and offer models for a campus emergency
preparedness plan. Discussion will include planning an emergency operations center, media relations, community
coordination, reconstruction, and FEMA interaction.
Faculty Member: Joseph Han
546: Design Standards
Learn how to communicate to the design consultant your campus needs in a new or renovated building. Review
how to develop a set of institutional guidelines and standards for design consultants to utilize in the design of a
campus project and how to contractually bind the consultant to your guidelines and standards. Discuss how to
create feedback loops, for revisions to the standards, from the maintenance and custodial organizations and other
stakeholders.
Faculty Member: Steve Thweatt
505: Experience Exchange – Mobile Device Applications
Description coming soon!
Instructor: Chris Smeds
Monday, September 14, 2015
3:10 pm – 4:50 pm
515: Business Communications
Learn the elements of effective written and oral communication. Class addresses style, audience analysis, format,
presentation and delivery. Effective communication strategies for presentation and delivery. Effective
communication strategies for professional settings will be discussed. Learn the difference between 'your need to
tell' and 'your audiences' need to know'.
Faculty Member: Mary Vosevich
523: Communicating the Value of Your Service
How you talk about your service does make a difference. In the future, it will be increasingly important to move
the conversation from what you do to why you do it. This course provides a framework for determining value
propositions; developing messages that resonate with your administration, customers and stakeholders; and using
communications techniques to position your organization as an essential partner.
Faculty Member: Jeri King
528: Campus Safety and Security
This course will address the unique challenges of managing campus security and security programs. Topics will
include such safety issues as lighting, communication systems, pedestrian safety, safe rides, broadcast alert
systems, student activism, campus police models, and emergency telephones. Events on over the past year have
brought campus safety to the forefront of higher education leadership. Participate in discussions of new safety
initiatives occurring on campuses.
Faculty Member: Joseph Han
544: Principles of Interior Design
How does the designer balance the aesthetic requirements for color, texture and pattern within an institutional
space with practical requirements for durability and maintainability? Examine a variety of product types, including
floor and wall coverings and upholstery fabrics, and discuss selection criteria for different types of environments.
Review the interior design process from initial concept through to installation.
Faculty Member: Elizabeth Reeves
545: Designing for Maintainability
Discuss procedures to assure that institutions achieve the best overall value from their investment in new or
renovated facilities. Understand the balance between aesthetics and durability and how they both play an
important role in design. Discuss the evaluation of facility designs based on life cycle costs and learn the questions
to ask during the design process so that you help create an overall better product.
Faculty Member: Joel Sims
511: Personal Enrichment – Tuning Your Health for Peak Performance
Learn tools and strategies to help prevent you from getting sick or developing an
illness in the work environment. Explore techniques to enhance your mental acuity
and physical performance on the job and at home. The session will also include a
demonstration of a testing procedure that can be used to screen for potential
problems with your health.
Faculty Member: Ron Medlin
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
1:00 pm – 2:40 pm
524: Creating a Learning Environment in Facilities
With budgets being cut and employees being expected to do more with less, organizations are having to find
effective and inexpensive ways to develop employees and prepare them for new roles. This session will explore a
variety of creative and cost-effective programs to create a learning environment where staff are expected to learn
and grow. This session will explore all the ways to develop staff and share the success stories of the program in
preparing the organization for the future.
Faculty Member: Michelle Frederick
532: Preventative/Predictive Maintenance Systems
A comprehensive maintenance program relies on an effective approach to preventive and predictive maintenance.
This session will address the key elements in establishing a preventive maintenance program and explore the
challenges and benefits of sustaining the program.
Faculty Member: Chris Smeds
534: O&M Staffing Guidelines
This course will review the basic methodologies used to determine staffing levels for the Operations and
Maintenance department. Focusing primarily on the systems used in the APPA Operational Guidelines for Grounds,
Custodial and Maintenance, this course will provide an understanding of how to apply these systems. The various
factors which can affect staffing levels will be discussed, a case study reviewed and other methods of calculating
staffing levels evaluated.
Faculty Member: Tom Flood
537: Heating Distribution Systems
This session will cover the various approaches to installing, maintaining, and operating a heating distribution
system. The course will examine the pros and cons of various installation methods from tunnels to box conduit to
direct buried, the various pipe materials, how best to connect new and existing buildings to the system, pumping
issues, looped systems versus radial, and other best practices issues. Life cycle cost, net present worth, and long
term reliability, quality, and maintainability issues of each system be discussed as well as when should low or high
temperature hot water or steam be used.
Instructor: Jay Becker
540: Managing In-House Design Services
Learn effective processes and procedures for operating an in-house design organization. Review staffing levels,
workload leveling, budgeting and billing procedures, computer aided design technology, and productivity and
performance incentives. Review the desired qualifications for an in-house design staff.
Faculty Member: Steve Maruszewski
547: New & Emerging Products/Materials for Building Design
This class will focus on new and emerging products and materials suitable for use in the construction of higher
education facilities. We live in an age where products are being developed at an exponential rate. It is important
to keep up to date with new developments. Come see some new and interesting building products and materials.
We will also identify some poor performing products as well as some “tried and true” building materials.
Faculty Member: Joel Sims
513: Experience Exchange – Historic Preservation
Description coming soon!
Faculty Member: Mark Stanis
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
3:10 pm – 4:50 pm
519: A Practical Guide to Organizational Change
As a member of a facilities organization in higher education, you know that one of the constants is change. This
course will examine what drives major change in our organizations, and how to recognize what may have an effect
on us in the near future. We will look at some ways to identify trends and anticipate change. Then we will move
into an overview on how individuals - you, me, and that other guy - cope with organizational change.
Faculty Member: Jeri King
525: Mechanical Systems
This course will provide a technical discussion of various types of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems
found in higher education facilities. The focus will be on system components, automated control systems,
maintenance practices, and codes and standards. Discussions will include designing for maintainability, systems
commissioning, and contract alternatives.
Faculty Member: Gary Reynolds
531: Customer Relations
Effective customer communication is essential for a successful facilities management organization. Discuss who
the customers are, how we understand their expectations, and the steps we take to meet those expectations.
Explore customer surveys, communication methods, training in customer service, and the ways to market the
facilities organization.
Faculty Member: Polly Pinney
536: “Best Practices” for Plant Organization & Operations
This session will examine “best practices” related to procuring, generating, and distributing utilities. The session
will begin with a review of all activities necessary for successful plant operation. It will then focus in on a few
effective strategies for dealing with recent challenges in the utilities environment. This class will utilize a big
picture approach to best plant practices, including using Standard Operating Procedures to capture every required
in a utility plant as well as assigning responsibilities. This concept could be applied in other areas of facilities
management.
Faculty Member: Jeff Zumwalt
541: Managing In-House Construction Services
Discuss effective processes and procedures for providing in-house construction services. Review staffing and
organization, workload management and leveling, budgeting, recharge rate structures, billing procedures, and
productivity and incentives to perform.
Faculty Member: Mark Stanis
548: Facilities Design for Future Technologies
Discuss the technical parameters of the learning environments of the 21st Century Campus.
Learn the basic principles of designing learning spaces for multimedia presentation,
videoconferencing, and networked instruction. Understand how these basic principles can be
successfully applied to a variety of project types, including labs, classrooms, and the new breed
of flexible learning spaces. (Recommended prerequisite: 455 Emerging Technologies and the
21st Century).
Faculty Member: Mark Valenti
512: Experience Exchange – BIM – Building Information Modeling
Description coming soon!
Faculty Member: Steve Maruszewski
Thursday, September 17, 2015
1:00 pm – 2:40 pm
517: Tearing Down Organizational Walls
In facilities organizations there is sometimes an “over-the-wall” syndrome. A design team tosses their finished plan
over the wall to construction. This team tosses the plan back over the wall because of needed changes. The design
team then tosses it over another wall back to the campus customer. These actions result in walls of resentment.
They become sources of trouble between individuals, teams, and departments because we make judgments. These
mental walls lead to rivalries, jealousy, and defensiveness. People gradually build stereotypes of others and act on
those labels. Other people respond in kind, which breaks down the synergy within the organization. This session
uses the construction of the Berlin Wall and its subsequent demolition 28 years later, as a metaphor for us as
individuals to consider our paradigms and relationships with other people and other departments.
Faculty Member: Fred & Kathy Gratto
521: APPA 101 & Credentialing
Do you want to be perceived and recognized as a professional in the field of educational facilities management?
APPA is the gathering place for those of us engaged in the field of educational facilities management and dedicated
to the ongoing evolution of its professionals into influential leaders in education. This course will introduce you to
APPA’s outstanding programs and offerings. It will also discuss APPA’s highly sought after credentialing program
that includes the Educational Facilities Professional (EFP) and Certified Educational Facilities Professional (CEFP).
Faculty Member: Mary Vosevich & Christina Hills
530: Information Technology in FM
Information technology plays a critical role in the day-to-day operation of a Facilities Management organization.
This course will provide a discussion of how FM organizations can leverage information technology to improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of their organizations. Topics discussed include work management systems, analytics
and reporting, and mobile technology.
Faculty Member: Chris Smeds
539: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Language of Energy and Utilities But Were Afraid to Ask!
Taking part in conversations related to the world of “energy and utilities” requires learning the language just like
learning a foreign language. This elective will acquaint you with the common terms, phrases, and concepts
associated with the “talking the talk” and, more importantly, understanding the “talk”. Participants will be given
access to a “wiki-like” comprehensive energy and utility glossary website with links to take a “deeper dive”. This
course has been designed for individuals that are new to the world of “energy and utilities” and those that interact
with E&U “experts” from time-to-time and would like to understand what in the world they are talking about!
Faculty Member: Doug Litwiller
542: Capital Construction Strategies for the New Economy
There is no question that today’s economy is having a profound effect on all of our lives. From a personal and
professional perspective we are all faced with doing things differently than we may have been doing them in the
past. The influence of the “new economy” can be measured in many ways including the direct influence it has had
on capital construction programs at most universities. Since the beginning of the current recessionary times, we
have all been challenged to examine all aspects of our capital programs to ensure that we maximize the
university’s investment. In reaction to current market conditions, there are many new strategies to ensure that
you receive the highest value for your institution’s investment. Among these strategies are focused cost
management principles, preconstruction and post construction audits, improved negotiation techniques, direct
purchasing programs, alternative project delivery methods, benchmarking studies, pre-established fees and
renegotiations of prior agreements. Come learn and discuss what new ideas can help your capital program.
Faculty Member: Steve Thweatt
549: Big Data’s Impact on Facilities & Operations
Description to come!
Faculty Member: Don Guckert
514: Experience Exchange – Current Issues in Planning Design & Construction
Description coming soon!
Faculty Member: Joe Bilotta
Thursday, September 17, 2015
3:10 pm – 4:50 pm
516: Leadership and Management Skills
Discuss the various forms of power available for use by the leader, with emphasis on the more effective ones.
Study contemporary philosophies of leadership offered by writers from the late 1950s through today. Share with
classmates the best leadership traits you have observed in your experience.
Faculty Member: Frederic & Kathy Gratto
518: The Manager as Coach
Coaching is experiencing dramatic growth as a valuable management tool for managers and supervisors. You will
sharpen your communication and management skills as you integrate the coaching examples, skill-building
exercises, and coaching tips and traps into a positive approach with your employees. Coaching is applicable in all
areas of management but is especially valuable in evaluations, discipline, positive and negative feedback, and
career development.
Faculty Member: Michelle Frederick
527: Improving Custodial Operations
This elective will provide practical information and insight on custodial staffing and training issues. Nearly every
organization is seeing increased demands on custodial service, due to budget constraints, public expectations and
environmental issues. Often, custodial operations are the first to be sacrificed when budgets are cut. How do you
justify the current staffing especially when budgets are cut? How do you succeed in requesting additional
staff? This class will review specific training methods, evaluate the critical elements of a good training program,
provide guidelines for developing and maintaining a training program, and overview one case study involving the
development of a training program in-house.
Faculty Member: Lynne Finn
535: Building Automation Systems
This course will provide an overview of a Building Automation System (BAS) utilized to monitor and control typical
building HVAC systems. The course will cover typical architecture for web-based systems, industry terms, types of
systems, system components, and communication protocols. Discussions will include the benefits and effective
uses of BAS systems for facilities managers related to energy conservation and customer service as well as future
trends in the industry.
Faculty Member: David Hatch
538: Energy & Fuel Pricing
The goal of this presentation will be to give participants a good overview of the market forces at work globally and
locally on energy supply and fuel markets. Attendees will be able to better evaluate their energy supply options
and to better explain their decisions and recommendations to their managers. Discussion points include: How
much energy do we really use? World-wide and domestically? How much is “available”
worldwide? Domestically? Natural gas, crude and coal: what role to imports & exports play in the natural gas,
crude and coal markets? Will there be another gas bubble? What new fuel production technologies should we
keep an eye on in the future? How do the North American fuel and energy supply markets really work? A look at
the financial side: NYMEX, ICE, Basis Differentials, etc. How can you lock in fuel supplies and manage your risk?
What other options are there? What does the data say that the future holds?
Faculty Member: Juan Ovtiveros
543: Alternative Project Delivery Methods
Learn about the various project delivery methods available for your capital program and why the design/build
method is gaining popularity. Hear about the development of Integrated Project Delivery and how it is being used
more and more on campus projects. Evaluate many other alternative project delivery systems including
construction management and program management, conventional lump-sum contracts, unit cost contracts, and
guaranteed maximum price contracts. . Pros and cons for each approach will be explored along with guidelines for
appropriate applications of each delivery approach.
Faculty Member: Steve Thweatt
510: Personal Enrichment – Preparing for Career Advancement in Facilities
Description coming soon!
Faculty Member: TBD