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FAQs about How SMCCCD’s Facilities Achieve the Standards
Delineated in Accreditation Standard IIIB
Physical resources, which include facilities, equipment, land, and other assets, support student learning programs and services and improve institutional effectiveness. Physical resource planning is integrated with institutional planning.
Standard III.B.1: The institution provides safe and sufficient physical resources that support and assure the integrity and quality of its programs and services, regardless of location or means of delivery.
a. The institution plans, builds, maintains, and upgrades or replaces its physical resources in a manner that assures effective utilization and the continuing quality necessary to support its programs and services.
SMCCCD’s comprehensive facilities planning activities ensure that its physical resources are planned and constructed to ensure effective utilization. The comprehensive planning efforts begin at the facilities master planning stage, when campus-wide master planning outcomes identify broad goals and initiatives. Once any individual project is launched, the project architects/engineers/project managers and facilities planners meet early and often with the end users to identify the programmatic requirements of the project, develop schematic designs, and ultimately progress to the construction documents phase that allows the project to be put out to bid in order for a contract to be awarded. End user participation scales back during the construction phase, when their designs are being built, but then their involvement ratchets up greatly toward the end of construction when furniture and equipment requirements are identified and procured.
Beginning in 2003-04 and continuing through 2005-06, program reviews of maintenance services were conducted. Our Custodial Program Review, Grounds Program Review, and Engineering Program Review have provided great insight into our staffing levels relative to industry benchmarks. With the identification of relative staffing levels, facilities service levels have been qualified and quantified. The service levels have been published on the Facilities web site at http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/maintoperation/Service_Levels.html, and the Program Review findings have been presented to College constituent groups. As a result, there is a basis for rich and effective dialogue between those providing and receiving services, and services are tailored based on College feedback and direction. Custodial Program Review briefings were provided to the College administration and managers, associated student organizations, District management staff, the Board of Trustees, as well as to the AFSCME bargaining unit leadership and to Facilities Department employees. Custodial Program Review findings are located on the Facilities Planning & Operations web site at http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/maintoperation/Custodial%20Program%20Review.html. Since the Grounds and Engineering Program Reviews were only recently completed, the findings have not yet been published nor have any presentations been made to the College constituents; those activities will occur in the near term.
The facilities of the San Mateo County Community College District are maintained following a stringent preventive maintenance program, and tracked using a computerized maintenance management system. Preventive maintenance activities are systems-focused: there are daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual preventive maintenance tasks associated with mechanical systems, electrical and illumination systems, fire and life safety systems, roofing and building envelope systems, elevators/dumbwaiters, interior wall/floor/ceiling systems, plumbing systems, etc. SMCCCD’s preventive maintenance program ensures that its facilities are operating as required to support the programs and services of the Colleges.
Custodial services are perhaps the most visible outcome of facilities maintenance activities. Because the cleanliness of facilities is a highly noticeable indicator of facilities sufficiency, our Custodial Supervisors conduct formal monthly inspections of every facility, in addition to daily informal observations. The outcome of these inspections is to identify if the custodians have been provided the resources they need to maintain the facilities, if the end users of the facilities are exerting unreasonable wear and tear on the facilities, or if staffing issues are in need of attention.
Upgrades and replacements of facilities have been significant, due to the capital construction program. The passage of general obligation bond measure C in the amount of $207 million in 2001 provided the majority of funding for the capital construction program. Other funding sources, including State Chancellor’s Office Capital Outlay Program funds in the amount of $51 million, State Chancellor’s Office Scheduled Maintenance & Special Repairs Program funds in the amount of $3 million, State Chancellor’s Office Hazardous Substances Program funds in the amount of $1 million, Certificates of Participation in the amount of $30 million, grants and donations in the amount of $1 million, and miscellaneous other minor funding sources have provided a total of $300 million for the first phase of the capital construction program. The passage of general obligation bond measure A in the amount of $468 million in 2005, along with State Capital Outlay funds anticipated in the amount of $30 million, represent the bulk of funding for the second phase of the capital construction program. For more information about capital construction funding sources, please go to http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/planconstruct/capitalimprovefund.html.
Projects completed to date, or in progress, demonstrate SMCCCD’s commitment to upgrading and replacing facilities that are aged and no longer support College programs and services adequately.
They include:
Cañada College:
- New Construction of Library & Student Resource Center (Building 9)
- New Construction of University Center (Building 22)
- Building 3 Renovation Phase 1: Main & Flex Theaters
- Building 3 Renovation Phase 2: Fine Arts Classrooms
- Buildings 3, 8, 13 Office Renovations
- Building 13 Classroom Renovations
- Modernization of Science & Engineering Buildings 16/17/18
- Campuswide Classroom Technology Upgrades
- Hardscape & Landscape Upgrades at Southern Quadrangle and Building 22
- Campuswide Accessibility Upgrades
- Energy Efficiency & Utility Infrastructure Upgrades
- Campuswide Fire Alarm System Upgrade
- Campuswide Wayfinding Signage
- Central Quadrangle Renovation
- Bookstore Renovation
- New Digital Environmental Controls System
- New Electronic Access Controls System
- Parking Lot Asphalt Repairs
- Athletics Facilities Upgrades
College of San Mateo
- New Construction of Science Building (Building 36)
- New Construction of Regional Public Safety Training Center (Building 35)
- Modernization & Seismic Upgrade of Building 18
- Modernization of Building 9 and KCSM Technology Upgrades
- Modernization (partial) & Roof Replacement of Building 19
- Modernization (partial) of Building 16
- Modernization of Building 33 Child Development Center (Interior and Play Yard)
- Energy Efficiency & Utility Infrastructure Upgrades
- Roofing Replacement at Buildings 7, 8 and 3 (partial)
- Campuswide Fire Alarm System Upgrade
- Asbestos Abatement at Building 8
- Exterior Lighting Improvements
- Parking Lot Asphalt Repairs
- Athletics Facilities Upgrades
Skyline College
- New Construction of Student Union and Science Annex (Buildings 6 & 7A)
- Modernization & Seismic Upgrade of Building 8
- Modernization & Seismic Upgrade of Building 3
- Modernization of Building 2 (2nd and partial 1st Floors)
- Modernization & Seismic Upgrade of Building 7
- Temporary Academic Space for Programs Displaced During Construction
- Classroom Renovations in Building 1
- Energy Efficiency & Utility Infrastructure Upgrades
- Building 5 Mechanical Upgrades
- Roofing Replacements - Buildings 1, 9 and 10
- Exterior Painting - various buildings
- New Electronic Access Controls System
- Parking and Roadway Improvements & Repairs
- New Digital Environmental Controls System
- Athletics Facilities Upgrades
These initiatives, activities, processes, mechanisms, programs and protocols demonstrate how SMCCCD plans, builds, maintains, and upgrades or replaces its physical resources in a manner that assures effective utilization and the continuing quality necessary to support its programs and services.
b. The institution assures that physical resources at all locations where it offers courses, programs, and services are constructed and maintained to assure access, safety, security, and a healthful learning and working environment.
There are a myriad of mechanisms that assure the accessibility, safety, security and healthfulness of our learning and working environments. Access for our disabled community is a high priority of SMCCCD. In 2004, an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) consultant was engaged to update our architectural barriers database, which had not been updated since 1991, and assist in developing an implementation plan for removal of all remaining architectural barriers that cause the campuses to be out of compliance with current ADA standards.
As part of the capital construction program, newly constructed facilities and existing facilities that are renovated are made compliant to ADA codes. In some instances, ADA codes are purposefully exceeded, in order to more fully make SMCCCD facilities accessible to our disabled community. The Disabled Students Programs and Services Department is a tremendous in-house resource to provide consultation on priorities, alternatives and temporary measures to ensure that disabled students, staff and visitors to the Colleges have access to programs and services, now and in the future.
Similar to its commitment to accessibility, San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) places a high level of attention on the safety of its facilities. Activities that demonstrate our commitment to safety include regular meetings of the College and District safety committees, a reporting process for accidents or injuries, a stringent safety training program for employees at highest risk for industrial accidents, a construction safety program, and an annual safety inspection and resolution cycle with our property and liability insurance provider.
College-based safety committees meet quarterly to facilitate disaster preparedness activities, to review recent accident and injury incidents, to conduct safety inspections, and to promote safety on campus. Safety committee members represent all constituent groups at the College, including faculty, classified staff, students and administration. Members of the College safety committees comprise the Districtwide safety committee, which meets semi-annually. The Districtwide safety committee reviews the progress made by the College safety committees, works toward consistency in disaster preparedness, and allows a venue for networking in order to promote best practices in campus safety.
When accidents or injuries occur that are attributed to or create facilities-related conditions, an incident report is prepared and distributed to the Campus Facilities Manager, so that an investigation and resolution of the condition is made.
Because they perform strenuous daily activities, maintenance department personnel tend to have higher industrial injury rates than the instructional and other support staff that are employed by SMCCCD. The Facilities Department’s weekly safety training program ensures that custodians, groundskeepers and maintenance engineers receive refresher training in the areas that most contribute to reductions in industrial injuries and illnesses. A Facilities Safety Task Force, comprised of maintenance personnel representing the different trades classifications, meets quarterly to review quarterly safety inspection reports, departmental industrial accident trends, and to promote best safety practices.
SMCCCD’s comprehensive capital construction program, spanning from 2002 through 2012, presents particular safety challenges that have called for enhanced safety planning. Contractors are prequalified on a number of stringent criteria, three of which are a requirement for a favorable experience modification rating (an insurance industry rating that is an indicator of jobsite safety), an approved Illness and Injury Prevention Plan, and an acceptable safety logistics plan specific to the particular construction project. On construction projects where SMCCCD carries the builder’s risk insurance coverage, our underwriter sends inspectors out regularly to ensure that best safety practices are being followed. Finally, construction inspectors hired by SMCCCD provide reports that include safety related concerns.
SMCCCD works closely with its property and liability insurance provider to conduct annual reviews of facilities condition risks. Annual physical surveys conducted by insurance inspectors, followed by deficiency reports, focus SMCCCD’s remedial efforts on facilities safety conditions that present the highest risk to the safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors.
Finally, the online Facilities HelpCenter allows anyone from the College community to submit work requests, including requests for remediation of facilities with unsafe conditions. Submitted work requests are triaged and dispatched, and safety related issues are given highest priority. Links to the Facilities HelpCenter can be found at either http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/ or http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/portal/.
The security of SMCCCD facilities is of paramount importance. In 2004, a districtwide task force that included faculty and staff, along with representatives of the campus security, campus facilities, and information technology departments, administration, and industry experts studied the condition of College security systems and developed a comprehensive solution toward improvements. Those improvements include the introduction of an electronic access controls and monitoring system, the continued use of traditional mechanical locks enhanced by the use of proprietary keys, and modified administrative processes to better track key issuance and retrieval. The comprehensive solution is being implemented as part of the capital construction program.
The assurance of healthful working and learning environments is achieved through maintenance activities of existing facilities, as well as in the planning, design and construction of new and renovated facilities. SMCCCD’s indoor air quality (IAQ) management program is comprised of a website to educate visitors about IAQ in general and how concerns about IAQ are handled, a written training program for Facilities Department staff covering how they directly and indirectly affect IAQ and how to take action responsibly in the event of an IAQ concern, and maintenance protocols that are aligned with best indoor air quality practices. To see website information about IAQ, please go to http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/maintoperation/default.html. The preventive maintenance program ensures that air filters are replaced routinely, that lighting systems remain operational, and that other activities are consistently performed at recurring frequencies to ensure safe and healthy indoor and outdoor facilities.
Many of SMCCCD’s facilities design standards are based on criteria that include the promotion of more healthful learning and working environments. For example, window treatments have been designed to reduce glare, reducing eye strain while still allowing visual connection to the beautiful views of the exterior campus and surrounding areas. Interior lighting upgrades have been implemented that not only reduce energy consumption, but also improve the quality of light inside our buildings. Resilient flooring standards call for a product with improved acoustic performance, reducing footfall noise disruption, and a more forgiving surface, reducing leg strain for faculty who stand while teaching. In addition, this product has a factory-applied finish that protects the underlying layers, making maintenance of the floor less expensive and more eco-friendly; as a result, custodial staff are not subjected to the use of harsh stripping and waxing chemicals used on traditional resilient flooring products. These are just a few examples of the effective decision making occurring during the planning, design and construction of new and renovated facilities.
These activities, processes and protocols provide a comprehensive framework against which to measure and ensure that SMCCCD’s physical resources are constructed and maintained to assure access, safety, security, and a healthful learning and working environment.
Standard III.B.2: To assure the feasibility and effectiveness of physical resources in supporting institutional programs and services, the institution plans and evaluates its facilities and equipment on a regular basis, taking utilization and other relevant data into account.
a. Long-range capital plans support institutional improvement goals and reflect projections of the total cost of ownership of new facilities and equipment.
Long-range capital planning at SMCCCD takes the form of facilities master planning, regular updates of our College’s facilities condition deficiencies information into the State Chancellor’s Office database, as well as annual updates of the Five Year Construction Plan. SMCCCD’s facilities master planning cycles have occurred in 1997, 2001 and 2006. The facilities master planning initiatives always begin with a review of the educational master plans and/or educational strategic plans in place, to ensure that physical resources are in support of institutional goals.
In July 2001, the Board of Trustees adopted a Facilities Master Plan that represented the culmination of eight months of work, including a complete physical analysis of the condition of existing facilities, plus an iterative consultation process with College constituent groups. The physical analysis was multi-faceted. It included a facilities audit that identified rough order of magnitude costs to renovate existing facilities based on existing utilization. A comprehensive energy analysis identified energy conservation measures that could be undertaken to improve energy efficiency, reduce operational costs, and improve environmental quality. A review of maintenance and repair activities, together with interviews with maintenance staff and end users, identified areas of particular concern in terms of deferred maintenance. Master planning architects were engaged to lead the Colleges through a series of meetings that served to identify physical campus planning goals and issues, develop options, ascertain the preferred solution, and identify an implementation strategy. The resulting 2001 Facilities Master Plan has been the basis of the first phase of our capital construction program. To see the 2001 Facilities Master Plan, please go to http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/planconstruct/Downloads/20010101MasterPlan.pdf.
In January 2006, the Board of Trustees commissioned an update of the Facilities Master Plan. Given the passage in November 2005 of the District’s general obligation bond Measure A and other changes that have occurred since 2001, an updated Facilities Master Plan is required to inform decision-making related to the next phase of planning and construction. At each of our Colleges, elements of the 2001 Facilities Master Plan have been implemented. Subsequent planning efforts related to annual Five Year Capital Outlay Plan updates have occurred and will be incorporated into an updated comprehensive facilities master plan, along with the identification of new opportunities and solutions to unresolved issues or needs. The annexation of the Pacific Heights Middle School poses a particularly unique new opportunity at Skyline College. This 2006 Facilities Master Plan is expected to be completed in July/August 2006. For information about this 2006 facilities master planning process, please go to http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/planconstruct/masterplan.html.
In 2003, SMCCCD engaged a consultant to conduct a physical survey of our three campuses. The survey information was entered into the State Chancellor’s Office facilities deficiencies database. This powerful database allows facilities planners at the District and State levels to create reports on facilities condition indices, plan projects, maintain a space inventory, and track State funding on approved projects. In December 2005, a re-survey of the campuses was conducted in order to update the information contained in the facilities deficiencies database.
Every year, SMCCCD submits a five year construction plan to the State Chancellor’s Office for funding consideration in the Capital Outlay Program. This plan is developed by the Facilities Planning Department, in consultation with College and District administration and as approved by the Board of Trustees. Initial project proposals for State funding, final project proposals, and a comprehensive detailing of planned projects (be they locally or State funded) are shown in priority and sequence in the five year construction plan. The plan takes into account an important criterion for campus facilities planning: capacity to load ratios. The capacity to load ratio is a comparison of the square footage a College has in relation to the square footage the College’s enrollment indicates it needs. Capacity to load ratios are measured for different categories of space, including lecture, laboratory, office, library, and audio/visual support spaces. For more information on SMCCCD’s participation in the State Chancellor’s Office Capital Outlay Program, please go to http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/planconstruct/Cap_Outlay.html.
As the capital construction program provides opportunities to construct campuses whose facilities meet the needs of the Colleges, it is imperative that the cost of operating and maintaining those facilities – the total cost of ownership (TCO) – be considered. SMCCCD has several mechanisms by which to ensure that TCO is taken into account. Facilities design standards have been developed to ensure that new and renovated facilities are designed and constructed in accordance with SMCCCD operational criteria. For example, energy efficiency is of paramount importance, particularly in light of escalating energy costs. For new buildings in particular, energy efficiency is a high priority design criterion. College of San Mateo’s new science building 36 is one example of an energy efficiency success story: the designers were asked to make the building as energy efficient as reasonably possible, and by harvesting daylight, using occupancy sensors, digital building controls, efficient mechanical and illumination systems, high reflectivity architectural finishes, a cool roofing system and high efficiency glazing, the building is calculated to be 42% more energy efficient than required by California’s stringent building code requirements. Other SMCCCD facilities design criteria include but are not limited to architectural finishes that are functional, pleasing, durable and maintainable, as well as environmentally friendly, furniture that has been selected in accordance with criteria that includes comfort, ergonomics, durability, maintainability, and longevity, and the design of new systems (mechanical, electrical, communications, building management controls, fire alarm, security systems, plumbing fixtures, etc.) with existing campuswide systems in mind to ensure that maintenance staff have the knowledge, tools and equipment to operate and maintain them. For more information on SMCCCD’s facilities design standards, please go to http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/planconstruct/SMCCCD_Facilities_Design_Standards.htm.
Long range capital planning, in the form of facilities master planning, annual updates of the five year construction plan, utilization of the information about the condition of facilities contained in the facilities deficiencies database, as well as TCO analyses and the development of design standards, allow for informed decision making that results in the facilities of SMCCCD supporting the institutional goals of the Colleges.
b. Physical resource planning is integrated with institutional planning. The institution systematically assesses the effective use of physical resources and uses the results of the evaluation as a basis for improvement.
Institutional planning precedes, indeed it drives, physical resource planning. The facilities master planning initiatives undertaken by SMCCCD in 1997, 2001 and 2006 have been preceded by a review of the educational master plans and/or educational strategic plans in place.
Physical resource planning at the facilities master planning level is a highly participative and iterative process. College administration, constituent groups, as well as District facilities planners, the Chancellor and the governing Board of Trustees collaborate to ensure that facilities support educational and other strategic goals. Annual updates of the five year construction plan are also inclusive efforts involving College administration, end user groups, facilities planners, District executives and the Board of Trustees. Project-level programming and planning, review of design documents, and selection of furniture, fixtures and equipment is based on input from College administration and end users. District facilities planners meet weekly with each College’s president’s cabinet to review and strategize on facilities planning issues. These interactions ensure that physical resource planning is integrated with institutional planning.
In Fall 2005, the Facilities HelpCenter was launched. The Facilities HelpCenter is an on-line service request application that allows customers to place a service request on-line and receive status reports on the resolution and completion of their issue. The HelpCenter is a sub-module of the computerized maintenance management system, and the system also includes a module for preventive maintenance activities. Upon completion of a customer-triggered work order, the system automatically sends a short customer satisfaction survey that solicits feedback about the timeliness of resolution of the work order, whether the resolution was satisfactory, and for information about the responder. The results of the HelpCenter customer satisfaction survey are reviewed monthly by the College Facilities Managers, in order to ascertain the satisfaction level for submitted work orders in the current period against previous periods, to reinforce the maintenance staff’s behaviors that resulted in good feedback, and to seek improvement in areas in which feedback was unsatisfactory. The Facilities HelpCenter can be accessed via either http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/portal/ or http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/.
On a monthly basis, Facilities Managers invite a targeted segment of their customer base to complete a Facilities Customer Satisfaction Survey at http://smcwebtest.smccd.edu/accounts/millera/FPOSurvey.tp4. Results of the surveys are reviewed each month in order to improve the quality of services provided by the Facilities Department. Prior to 2002, the Facilities Department did not have a web site. The web site was launched in 2002, with continual updating on a daily basis. The site allows the College communities to easily obtain information and stay abreast of information related to facilities maintenance and operations as well as the capital construction program. The site is quite robust, and continues to be a dynamic work in progress. Please visit it at http://www.smccd.edu/accounts/facilities/.
SMCCCD’s capital construction program has resulted in the addition of new buildings in the space inventory which must be maintained. The Budget and Finance Committee developed a resource allocation model with a mechanism that increases (and decreases) annual maintenance budgets to reflect additions and deletions from the space that needs to be maintained. This resource allocation model is scheduled to be effective as of fiscal year 2006-07, and it appropriately aligns fiscal resources with physical resources.
These mechanisms, which integrate physical resource planning with institutional planning, allow SMCCCD to systematically assess the effective use of physical resources and use the results of the evaluation as a basis for improvement.
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