Published: July 10, 2012

The University of Colorado Boulder’s Facilities Operations, a division of the Department of Facilities Management, has earned the highest institutional honor bestowed by APPA, the association serving educational facilities professionals. APPA’s Award for Excellence in Facilities Management will be formally presented on July 18 during the organization’s annual conference, to be held in Denver this year.

The award, which is designed to recognize and advance excellence in the field of educational facilities, is based on an analysis of seven areas: leadership, strategic and operational planning, customer focus, information and analysis, development and management of human resources, process management and performance results.

“The CU-Boulder campus is well known for its exceptional buildings and grounds,” said Lisa Potter, interim director of Facilities Operations. “It’s an honor for the facilities staff, who work to maintain and enhance the campus, to receive this recognition.”

CU-Boulder is widely regarded as having one of the most beautiful campuses in the country with more than 200 buildings. Its distinctive architectural style, known as Tuscan vernacular revival, features sandstone buildings with red-tiled roofs, giving the university a rugged yet classical look consistent with its setting at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The main campus, encompassing 313 acres in the center of Boulder, is complemented by a 201-acre east campus, a 66-acre student housing area just southeast of the main campus and a 190-acre alpine research station in the mountains west of town.

“The University of Colorado Boulder’s application for the Award for Excellence was very strong and indicated a mature organization that continuously worked to optimize resources to care for the campus facilities and support the university mission,” reports Jodie Sweat, director of plant operations at Kennesaw State University in Georgia and one of two outside reviewers who made site visits to CU-Boulder. “The university scored particularly well in the areas of strategic planning, customer focus, information and analysis, and process management.”

APPA, the Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers, has a membership of more than 5,000 individuals and 1,500 learning institutions.

Contact:
Nicole Gordon, CU Facilities Management, 303-492-8687
nicole.gordon@colorado.edu