Education Facilities Management Best Practices

Introduction

Educational institutions face increasingly complex challenges, including limited funding, staffing shortages, and aging infrastructure. To overcome these hurdles, colleges and universities need to operate more efficiently, make smarter decisions, address stakeholder concerns, and implement a higher degree of care on campus. Effective facilities management is essential for creating a conducive learning environment in schools. This article explores best practices in education facilities management, covering various aspects such as staffing, enrollment, student experience, energy efficiency, sustainability, safety, compliance, and the use of technology.

Overcoming Staffing Challenges

Colleges and universities often struggle with attracting and retaining qualified talent, managing turnover, and offering competitive pay and benefits. Addressing these staffing challenges is crucial for maintaining the quality of facility services.

Hiring

Streamlined staffing processes enable institutions to hire qualified, well-trained, and properly equipped facility personnel.

Focused Hiring Team: Assigning talent acquisition staff to focus solely on hiring for skilled trades can be more effective than having general HR departments handle these positions.
Accurate Job Descriptions: Designing jobs with realistic requirements aligned with the campus's strategic needs and goals makes it easier to attract the right candidates.
Competitive Messaging: Highlighting the institution's culture and values, competitive wages, comprehensive benefits, and career development opportunities can attract great candidates.
Exceptional Candidate Experience: Maintaining regular communication with the talent pool and accelerating the hiring process demonstrates the institution's values and culture.

Training

Providing ongoing training and professional development opportunities improves team member performance and service quality.

Comprehensive Onboarding: Welcoming new team members with an orientation program and onboarding playbook helps them navigate their first 90 days.
Safety and Site-Specific Training: Ensuring team members are knowledgeable of industry standards and the needs of the facilities they work in through ongoing training.
Culture and Values Training: Delivering annual training aligned with the Code of Business Conduct, including harassment prevention, management training programs, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training for all team members.
Frontline Leader Program: Offering education and resources that equip frontline leaders to be successful in their roles.

Retaining Talent

Prioritizing team member retention is crucial for maintaining the quality of facility services.

Engagement Initiatives: Increasing employee engagement by providing team members with opportunities to provide feedback, volunteer, donate, and participate in wellness activities.
Comprehensive Benefits: Offering a range of comprehensive benefits, including health and welfare benefits, retirement savings, workers' compensation coverage, and paid time off.
Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Fostering an inclusive workforce where everyone is seen, heard, and feels like they belong through proactive outreach programs.
Team Member Appreciation: Leadership at all levels supporting the efforts, resources, and tools necessary to honor the hard work and dedication of facility service workers.

Career Advancement

Providing career advancement opportunities for employees at all levels attracts and retains talented team members.

Career Framework: Establishing a career framework that organizes roles and functions across the company, ensuring consistency in job titles, responsibilities, and greater transparency for career mobility and development.
Apprenticeship Programs: Providing apprenticeship programs and creating succession plans for technical and service staff to nurture internal employees and prepare for future staffing needs.
System Talent Profiles: Allowing workers to build system profiles indicating their work preferences, enabling recruiters to more easily place them when roles are available in their preferred location, industry, or job type.

Increasing Enrollment with High-Quality Facilities

Facilities are an important consideration for parents and students. Operating a high-quality campus can help combat declining enrollment by enhancing the campus experience and reducing long-term costs, backlogs, and project delays.

Single-Source Accountability

With a single company overseeing all facility services, institutions can ensure accountability, allowing for improved efficiency and communication, as well as quicker resolution of issues.

Resources Assessment

Involving custodial and maintenance experts at the beginning of any new facility initiatives (upgrades and new architecture) allows for guidance on the most effective and durable equipment and building product choices, which helps in maintaining clean spaces and can lower costs over time.

Proactive Maintenance and Improvement

Creating a plan for proactive maintenance including steps to improve operational systems and reduce energy and resource waste.

Providing Healthy Spaces

Indoor environments greatly impact students in multiple ways, from attention levels to drop-out rates. Studies show that light, air, and facility quality have real effects on student success. Meeting deferred maintenance needs and investing in the built environment quality is key to helping students breathe well, see well, and be well.

Energy Performance Contracting

Analyzing a facility's infrastructure, energy usage, operating costs, and sustainability metrics to develop a solution that creates the funding needed to make recommended improvements.

Improving the Student Experience

Student physical and mental health have become barriers to successful academic outcomes, including graduation rates. Maintaining a clean and hygienic campus environment is essential to ensure the health and safety of students on campus.

Reduced Noise Levels

Implementing measures to reduce the impact of noise levels on student stress, anxiety, and academic performance, such as:

Sound insulation panels in walls
Sound-reducing windows
High-quality seals and gaskets on doorways
Updated cleaning equipment and HVAC systems

Maintaining Cleanliness

Ensuring that cleaning operations are carried out effectively and safely through detailed policies and procedures, clear job expectations and assignments, measurable standards, and proper training.

Read also: Becoming a Neonatal Nurse

Appropriate Lighting

Identifying the right lighting solutions and integrating measures that reduce energy consumption without sacrificing safety.

Improving Indoor Air Temperature & Quality

Improving HVAC systems and maintenance results in better indoor air quality and improved classroom performance. Calculating ideal temperatures and energy usage, improving inside humidity levels and ventilation, and conducting proactive maintenance to extend the HVAC system's life.

Prioritizing Energy Efficiency and Sustainability

Educational facilities must take a proactive role in reducing their carbon footprint. Implementing sustainability measures can also reduce costs and improve the learning environment.

Cleaning Chemicals

Using Green Seal certified and bio-based cleaning alternatives, as well as electrically activated water systems that produce safe, non-toxic daily cleaning and sanitizing solutions onsite, to ensure cleanliness and the well-being of people and the environment.

Waste Management & Recycling

Implementing an effective waste management program that involves assessment, planning, and training to:

Understand waste streams
Develop a plan to reduce waste generation
Implement recycling and composting

E-Mobility Opportunities

Considering the full impact of e-mobility on campus and providing support in reaching short- and long-term infrastructure needs to implement an accessible, convenient EV charging program.

Upgrade Systems for Energy Savings

Implementing improvements like efficient HVAC systems, dynamic valves, and better insulation, which can lead to significant savings on energy bills and positively impact both productivity and engagement.

Ensuring Safety and Compliance

Educational institutions must keep students and staff safe, meet strict regulations, and avoid disruptions to learning and research. Facility management in this setting extends beyond maintenance to keep campuses audit-ready, safeguards people and assets, secures sensitive spaces, and maintains continuity of operations.

Protecting People

Providing safe environments for students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

Ensuring Compliance

Meeting and documenting adherence to safety, environmental, and accessibility regulations.

Safeguarding Research & Assets

Protecting intellectual property, sensitive data, and high-value equipment such as lab instruments and information technology (IT) infrastructure.

Visitor Oversight

Ensuring every person entering campus affects safety, compliance, and community trust through structured oversight.

Contractor Compliance Management

Ensuring every vendor, service provider, and contractor on campus meets safety, credentialing, and insurance requirements before work begins.

Emergency Management

Managing emergencies by combining defined procedures with tools that improve speed and accountability.

Resource Management

Showing not only what was purchased, but how items were handled, stored, and distributed.

Identity and Access Management

Protecting students, staff, and assets by making sure only the right people enter specific areas at the right time.

Leveraging Technology

Automating compliance tasks, improving visibility, and keeping institutions audit-ready at all times through digital transformation in facility management.

FacilityOS

Utilizing a platform that offers modular solutions for visitor management (VisitorOS), emergency and evacuation management (EmergencyOS), contractor compliance (ContractorOS), asset and logistics management (LogisticsOS), and physical identity and access management (SecurityOS).

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Tracking indicators tied to safety, compliance, and continuity of learning to measure whether facility management efforts are effective.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Analyzing institutional data to identify risks, optimize operations, and strengthen compliance frameworks.

System Integration

Connecting visitor management, contractor compliance, emergency response, and access control platforms so they exchange data seamlessly in real time.

CMMS Software

Employing a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) to help manage ongoing demands by organizing tasks, creating work orders, and scheduling maintenance.

Space Planning

Planning, designing, and controlling the use of a buildingâs space to optimize efficiency by putting systems in place to ensure rooms donât get double-booked, allowing staff to host meetings and events, and creating an organized and welcoming environment for all.

tags: #education #facilities #management #best #practices