FACILITIES MANAGEMENT | From the desk of the Associate Vice Chancellor
W
e are embarking upon another academic year. Summer has flown by for me, as I am sure it has for you. The past year has been very successful for our organization. We have been fortunate to add strategic, new positions in the areas of fire alarms, building automation, space management, real estate, preventive maintenance, retro commissioning, cost accounting, Building Environmental Services learning and development, and critical facilities. What a blessing to welcome these new employees to our Team! Please make them feel at home. The organization gets stronger as we bring in these experienced and talented people.
Philip M. Jones
MISSION To provide a quality learning, research, and living environment for the benefit of students, faculty, staff, and the community by planning, building, operating, and maintaining the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
VISION A leader in Facilities Management distinguished by safety and excellence. A proficient, responsive, and adaptable ‘Team of teams’. Providing high quality services and facilities in an environmentally sustainable manner.
CREATING A CAMPUS OF DISTINCTION
Another way our organization grows stronger is by assessing where we are in our connection with each other. From the latest work climate survey, I am happy to report 89% of respondents answered they are satisfied working in Facilities Management. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on the survey and via the data collected at the all employees meetings. We, the leaders of Facilities Management, heard you. The top two areas where we can improve are communication between units and communication within units. Leaders on all levels within the department are in the process of developing an action plan to make sure we do better to keep each other abreast of what is going on, what processes are in place, where to find information, and other issues we identified. Our goal is for you to see a positive change in our communication efforts soon. I am proud of the work by Design Services teamed with Facilities Operations to complete more than 200 high-priority repair and renovation projects worth over $15 million this past fiscal year. We also had a banner financial closeout, led by our Facilities Business Office team. Through a super team effort across all units, the Labor Services account finished in positive numbers for the first time in three years.
2Website: Facilities Focus | Issue 62 facilities.uncc.edu
The campus continues to grow as construction swings into full force on the new Student Health and Wellness (Recreation) Center, expansion of Union Deck, and the new Facilities Operations/ Parking Services Complex. Later in the fall, we will see the start of the new Admissions and Visitors Center in South Village, the Belk Plaza Revitalization project, and the Charlotte Research Institute Entrance project. Everyone in the organization has really pulled together to make the Five-year Capital Construction Plan go smoothly. The Burson Renovation, Residence Dining Hall Repurposing, Elm/Maple/Pine Renovations, and new Student Counseling Center projects will all complete this fall. We learned some hard lessons regarding the difficult renovation projects, which I expect we will put to good use as we start the next round of projects. One of the most difficult tasks involves moving faculty and staff from the Academic Complex to swing space in Cedar and Hickory buildings. This has required teamwork and cooperation from everyone in Facilities Management. As classes start this fall, expect more students, an expanded bus service, more cars, more congestion, and more construction traffic. SAFETY FIRST – please slow down. Do not be in a hurry to get around campus. Remember to abide by our Service Vehicle Parking and Off Limits Areas standard operating procedure found at http://facilities.uncc.edu/. Keep vehicles off the sidewalks! It is indeed an exciting time to be at UNC Charlotte and in the thick of all this change. You are truly “Creating a Campus of Distinction” with your hard work and dedication!
Philip M. Jones Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Management
Hechenbleikner Lake facilities.uncc.edu