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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Atlanta, GA | Posted: August 6, 2018
Jessica Rose
Analytics & Communications
Facilities Management
APPA, previously known as the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, promotes leadership in educational facilities for professionals seeking to build their careers, transform their institutions, and elevate the value and recognition of facilities in education. APPA is the association of choice for more than 12,000 educational facilities professionals from 1,300 educational institutions in North America. APPA is recognized as an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer.
Summary Sentence:
The APPA Award for Excellence is the industry's highest honor for outstanding achievement in facilities management.
Full Summary:
The APPA Award for Excellence is the industry's highest honor for outstanding achievement in facilities management.
Georgia Tech accepting the APPA Award for Excellence 
Georgia Tech Facilities Management: Journey to ExcellenceIn August, Georgia Tech's Facilities Management, one of the largest units on campus, was recognized for achieving the APPA Award for Excellence. This award is considered one of the greatest industry accomplishments in the higher education facilities industry and celebrates comprehensive achievements in efficiency, leadership, customer focus, and innovative practices.
"This award is the culmination of years of hard work and continuous improvement; it could not have been won without the dedication of each and every employee on our team,” said Vice President of Facilities Management Chuck Rhode. “I am very proud of our staff."
The Facilities Management team is made up of 535 staff members across 13 departments.
“The institutions that receive the Award for Excellence are true leaders in educational facilities management,” said Dan Bollman, vice president of Professional Affairs for APPA. “The Facilities department at Tech is embracing innovation and ‘creating the next’ in a variety of areas. The operations and maintenance teams are applying the real-time collection and analysis of data to improve the built environment, while ecological advances and environmental sustainability drive a number of notable innovative campus projects: These include the first planned Living Building Challenge-certified facility in the southeastern United States, the Campus Work Green initiative ranking the sustainability practices of campus departments, and joint projects between the landscape department and academics to determine the impact of the campus arboretum.”
The Award for Excellence highlights the essential role of facilities operations in the overall institutional mission. Georgia Tech's Facilities Management unit oversees the design, construction, operation, maintenance, and renovation of all of the built, naturalized, and landscaped environments of Tech’s campus, which spans more than 400 acres in Midtown Atlanta. This oversight includes responsibilities such as ensuring the safe and reliable distribution of utilities, operation and cleaning of buildings, laboratory and occupational safety, and waste and recycling management.
Award submissions are assessed in the areas of leadership; strategic and operational planning; customer focus; information and analysis; development and management of human resources; process management; and performance results. In addition to a comprehensive application package, the review process includes industry committee input, as well as a site visit and stakeholder interviews. The Award for Excellence designation is valid for a period of five years.
