The State of Facilities in Higher Education

At this year's Higher Ed Facilities Forum in San Antonio, participants had the opportunity to attend an engaging and fascinating panel discussion titled "The Changing Landscape of Higher Ed Facilities".

The session featured an all-star cast of facilities management leaders. Robin Morey, Vice President of Planning & Facilities Management from Georgetown University was on the panel, along with James O'Reilly, Chief Facilities Executive of the Los Angeles Community College District and Mike Perez, AVP of Facilities Management at the University of Utah. David Kadamus, Executive Chairman, & Founder of Sightlines, intro'd the session and moderated a lively discussion.

The panel had incredible diversity. As Kadamus said, "we have a residential based, private research institution in Georgetown, a large public research based institution in Utah, and we have a community college in Los Angeles, one of the largest in the country."

There was a lot to cover, but the discussion centered around "space, how space is used," and allocating capital. Kadamus began the discussion by showing a graph of construction across college campuses going back to the late 1800's. Kadamus said that while "it's not surprising" that the 1960's is the largest peak of construction, it's surprising that "the second largest peak is new construction since 1995." People just don't realize that we've actually spent more money on buildings since 1995 than in the 1960's. It's important to note that these new buildings, require more maintenance, have more complex systems, and have shorter lifespans. This is all happening in a time where college money allocation is especially tough and tight.

Most higher education analysts agree that the next 10 to 15 years will bring significant shifts to the delivery of education and learning environments at colleges and universities. In light of these current and future changes, there needs to be a dialogue around facilities on campuses, as facilities leaders will continue to be called upon to do more with less. This panel discussion at the Higher Ed Facilities Forum touched upon many of the pressing issues around facilities on campuses. You can watch the full session discussion below.