OSU finds innovative learning potential in facilities management, receives industry award
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Oklahoma State University was selected for the 2020 APPA Effective and Innovative
Practices Award for its submission “Culture of Collaboration for Student Success.”
OSU’s Facilities Management has stepped outside its traditional support function and
built a program that functions as a partner in student success and academics.
“We help students succeed by providing practical applications that add to the standard
classroom lecture to enrich the learning process,” said Ron Tarbutton, chief facilities
officer for OSU. “For facilities management to be more relevant to academics, it is
important to directly support the university missions of teaching and research.”
The campus, facilities and grounds become their own classrooms, providing hands-on
opportunities that enrich the student experience. The projects are diverse and mutually
beneficial. Students in architecture, for example, get behind-the-scenes tours of
chillers, emergency generators and air-handling units. A partnership with the Ferguson
College of Agriculture has led to incorporating student landscape design elements
into university building projects. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has partnered
with FM for aerial inspection of the Lake Carl Blackwell dam, thermal imaging of buildings
and aerial nighttime lighting surveys. Fire Protection and Safety Engineering developed
a semester-long project where students served as loss prevention consultants to FM.
“The list goes on. There is no limit to the partnership opportunities between FM and
academics,” Tarbutton said. “The entire campus, facilities and grounds can be a cost
effective ‘learning lab.’”
Submissions were assessed on criteria measuring institutional benefit; innovativeness,
creativity and originality; portability and sustainability; management commitment
and employee involvement; and documentation, analysis, customer input, and benchmarking.
Projects displaying a high level of innovation and adaptability for implementation
at other schools had the best chance of being favorably ranked.
Other 2020 recipients of the Effective and Innovative Practices Award are: University
of Nebraska at Kearney, University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of Virginia
and Purdue University. APPA has been in existence since 1914 and was most recently
known as the Association of Physical Plan Administrators before changing its name
in 2007 to APPA: Leadership in Educational Facilities.
CONTACT: Shannon Rigsby | Public Information Officer | 405-744-9081 | shannon.rigsby@okstate.edu