They've won APPA's 2007 Award for Excellence in Facilities Management, the industry's highest institutional honor. APPA, formerly the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, serves educational facilities professionals in more than 1,500 learning institutions worldwide.
"The achievement makes HACC the first community college ever to win this prestigious, international award," said Dr. Edna Baehre, HACC president.
"The college also is the first Pennsylvania institution to ever to receive the industry's recognition since the award was established nearly two decades ago, Baehre continued.
"I want to congratulate Joe Wojtysiak, Ernie Peters, Ron Cline and the 95 facilities employees who are dedicated to maintaining and providing superior service" at HACC's five campuses in Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon, Gettysburg and York, Baehre added.
HACC's Facilities Management Department staff maintains and provides service in 32 buildings with 1.3 million square feet on 275 acres of grounds at the community college's various facilities in the region. The department has a fleet of more than 30 vehicles, including 12 golf carts used to traverse the larger campuses.
"HACC's facilities and campuses are equal or superior to those at major private universities, which stand as a testimony to the untiring efforts of the women and men in the Facilities Management Department," said George A. Franklin Jr., vice president, finance and college resources, who oversees the department. Franklin encouraged the team to get involved in APPA, and subsequently supported participation in the association's rigorous review process that qualified HACC for the Award of Excellence.
Baehre and Franklin were joined by Wojtysiak, executive director, facilities management; Peters, Lancaster Campus facilities director, and Cline, Gettysburg Campus facilities director, in receiving the award July 16 during the APPA annual conference in Baltimore.
A visit to any HACC campus or center shows why the members of the facilities management departments have earned this award. Well-maintained and landscaped grounds give a glimpse to what visitors will find inside the buildings – internal facilities that are safe, efficient and aesthetically pleasing.
"Our vision is 'Excited Employees – Delighted Customers,'" said Wojtysiak, adding, "Empowering employees to provide input and make independent decisions is both encouraged and expected."
In addition, "communication with customers and staff is a key factor with meeting expectations. We've emphasized getting all FM coordinators involved in being good supervisors and looking for ways to do our jobs better."
Of the upcoming award, Peters said: "It was a cooperative effort. Our facilities department is made up of a lot of very good people. Everyone is conscientious and tries to do the best job they can. We're always trying to improve the functionality and beauty of our campuses."
In addition to Peters and Cline, Wojtysiak cited the efforts of supervisors including Angela Sye, custodial; Deb Eichenberger, grounds; Larry Livingston, HVAC; Brett Thompson, general maintenance and automotive; Andy Ohrman, IT facilities resource specialist, and Mike Toole, facilities supervisor at the Lancaster Campus.
Upon joining HACC in 2002, Wojtysiak also set out to encourage his supervisory staff to also participate in APPA training opportunities. Wojtysiak, who has a master's degree in administration from George Washington University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Baltimore, has more than 46 years experience. He is a 2004 graduate of APPA's Institute for Facilities Management and has completed two of three core sessions in APPA's Leadership Academy. He also attended the Campus of the Future conference in Hawaii in 2006.
Peters, who has been at HACC's Lancaster Campus since May 2000, has completed APPA's Institute for Facilities Management and is currently attending the Leadership Academy.
"Our Gettysburg Campus team works hard to maintain an inviting facility for our students," said Cline, who has been at Gettysburg since last October. "We'll be making even more improvements to the campus through two upcoming projects. A grant-funded state Growing Green project will implement Best Management Practices for storm water management and also will create landscaped outdoor space behind the campus. And an extensive renovation project will accommodate additional learning spaces and common areas," he continued.
That project "will include landscaping at the front of the campus and upgrades to the building façade."
HACC's receipt of the 2007 APPA Award for Excellence is the result of an in-depth review and verification of excellence in seven core categories, including leadership, strategic and operational planning, customer focus, information and analysis, development and management of human resources, process management and performance results.
In addition to HACC, winners of the 2007 AAPA Award for Excellence are California State University, San Bernardino; North Carolina State University; University of Central Oklahoma, and Utah State University.
Membership in APPA includes facilities professionals from public and private, two-year and four-year colleges and universities; medical and law schools, seminaries, public and private K-12 schools and districts, museums and parks, military institutions, and federal, state and city-county governments.
HACC serves more than 18,000 degree-seeking students in a 10-county region in Central Pennsylvania. In addition, the college serves more than 35,000 students in its workforce development and community education programs.
In addition to its five regional campuses, the college operates a rapidly growing virtual campus for online courses and a number of off-campus community sites. As Central Pennsylvania's Community College, HACC provides degree and diploma programs in more than 154 fields.