FALL 2009

FACILITIES NEWS FACILITIES MANAGEMENT BROWN UNIVERSITY

A NOTE OF THANKS INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Thank you all for the tremen- up. In addition to covering vari- I look forward to seeing you all ■ RENOVATION OF 222 2 dous effort that went into mak- ous topics at each meeting, at the Facilities’ Tailgating RICHMOND ing school opening successful. such as the impact of the eco- Party on October 17th; see the nomic crisis on Facilities Man- ■ PHOTOS OF RECENT This issue of Facilities News last page for details. agement, FM Partnership, pro- PROJECTS highlights some of the ongoing Lastly, it is anticipated that ject turnover, carbon reduction work happening across Facili- there will be a higher than nor- ■ FAMIS initiatives, etc., questions at the 3 ties Management—Custodial’s mal rate of flu cases this sea- IMPLEMENTATION staff meetings ranged from how PLAN effort to go green, the upcom- son. For information on what carpeting is evaluated to the ing renovation of 222 Rich- you can do to protect yourself use of consultants for leaking ■ THE FISCAL YEAR mond Street for the medical and the latest university up- 4 roofs to how the university’s END PROCESS education building, and FAMIS dates, go to http://www.brown.edu/ Organizational Review Commit- implementation plan and train- Administration/Human_Resources/benefits/ ■ TECH TIP - DROP BOX tee was formed. Thank you all fluclinics09.html. ing, and more. for taking the time to share your Sincerely, ■ THE FISCAL YEAR 5 During the August 20th staff comments and concerns. If you END PROCESS CONT’D meetings, there were many missed the meeting and would

■ ODE TO AN ACCRUAL questions and comments, all of like a copy of the presentation Vice President which were either addressed at to your area, please contact my ■ EMPLOYEE DEVELOP- 6 Facilities Management MENT PROGRAM the meeting or require follow office.

■ EMISSIONS REDUC- TION PLAN CUSTODIAL CLEANING PRODUCTS

■ NEW MATERIALS 7 In an effort to support a sus- Donna Butler. Evaluations are still underway HANDLING CONTRACT tainable environment and the on an environmentally friendly, Also being tried out are a mi- University’s mission to re- floor-finish product. While the ■ FM PARTNERSHIP crofiber technology cloth for PROGRAM duce cost, Custodial Services custodians have agreed upon a has increased its efforts to “Green Seal Certification new floor stripper, finding an ■ COMINGS & 8 find new, more effective and ensures that a product odorless floor finish that meets GOINGS efficient cleaning products meets rigorous, science- Facilities Management’s clean- ■ REMINDERS and methods—products that based environmental lead- ing and environmental stan- are “green” and often less ership standards. This gives manu- dards has not been quite as ■ SAVE THE DATE expensive. facturers the assurance to back up easy. It is expected that a deci- sion will be announced soon. Symptoms of H1N1 Flu The symp- Products currently being their claims and purchasers confi- dence that certified products are toms of this novel influenza A evaluated include an organic A “Green Seal” certified foam shower cleaner that works better for human health and the hand soap was tried out at (H1N1) flu virus in people are simi- hard to remove soap scum environment.” http:// Facilities Management, and lar to the symptoms of seasonal flu without harming the environ- greenseal.org/index.cfm other areas, around campus. and are predominantly fever (100° ment, is less damaging to This odorless, dye-free hand shower surfaces, and cost soap is “less expensive than +) with cough, fever with sore general cleaning and an appli- half the amount of the cur- cator for green floor finishing (a liquid soap and preferred by throat, or both. While other symp- rent product. “The custodial modified mop). These products users” according to Butler. staff are especially excited toms may include runny or stuffy require half the amount of All in all, according to Butler, about this product because it nose, body aches, headache, chills cleaning product and floor finish the products, which are evalu- cleans better than the origi- to use, with no product waste ated by the custodial staff and fatigue, diarrhea and vomiting, nal product but is much less and little clean-up time. Both through random building selec- corrosive and doesn’t require fever and cough are most common. the cloths and applicators can tion, have generated very posi- as much scrubbing,” said also be used up to 500 times. tive feedback. Director of Custodial Services

FACILITIES NEWS Page 2

RENOVATION OF 222 RICHMOND STREET FOR THE WARREN ALPERT MEDICAL SCHOOL RECENT PROJECTS Brown University has an- art, medical education build- named the School in honor of nounced that The Warren Al- ing will open. Two twenty two businessman, entrepreneur pert Medical School will be Richmond Street is a and philanthropist Warren Al-

relocated to 222 Richmond 137,000 square foot, four- pert, in recognition of a Street, Providence. The War- story building, which includes $100-million gift from The ren Alpert Medical School is a 370 space parking garage. Warren Alpert Foundation. A

Rhode Island’s only school of The property was purchased, portion of the gift will help fi- medicine and has attracted along with other Brown- nance construction of a new first-class physicians and re- owned commercial properties building that will house class- Perry and Marty Granoff

searchers worldwide improv- in the Jewelry District, in rooms, administrative offices, Center for the Creative Arts ing the state’s health care January 2007. To satisfy the and other instructional environment, policies and pa- needs of the medical school spaces for The Warren Alpert

tient care. program, the building will re- Medical School of Brown Uni- quire a complete renovation. versity.” The move represents the re- The nationally known archi- alization of a distinct univer- “When it comes to clinical ex- tectural firm of Ellenzweig, lo- sity-wide initiative, as set perience, Alpert Medical cated in Cambridge, Massa- forth in the 2004 Plan for School offers students unpar- chusetts, has been engaged Academic Enrichment (PAE), alleled variety in which to to redesign the building. El- to: “Strengthen the reputa- learn. It is affiliated with Kitchen in Caswell tion and visibility of seven area hospitals - the Medical School.” all within a fifteen- With improving rank- minute drive of the ings and increasing Brown campus - that class sizes, the new serve one and a half building is critical to million people of di- this continued suc- verse backgrounds and cess. As outlined in socioeconomic status. the reaffirmed princi- At Alpert Medical Fence and gate restoration ples of the PAE: School, the road to be- at the Main Green Phase II (February coming a physician 2008), “The oppor- takes students to these tunities for graduate hospitals as well as to and medical stu- countless other clinical dents to participate settings, such as com- more fully in the munity practices broad scholarly and throughout the state, learning community inner city clinics, and Event space at Stephen are exceptionally biotech companies. lenzweig projects include promising.” A dedicated These sites provide a range Robert ‘62 Campus Center technically-complex buildings medical school will signifi- of diverse training opportuni- at Faunce House for science research and cantly increase the opportuni- ties for medical students and teaching, medical and busi- ties for students to interact residents.” For more infor- ness education, and infra- with faculty, extending col- mation on the medical school structure—energy and chilled laborative and shared experi- visit: http://med.brown.edu/ water plants, parking com- ences. about/history.html. plexes, and transit facilities. Thanks to a generous gift According to the medical from the late Warren Alpert, school’s website, “In January in fall 2011, the doors of a Parking lot reconstruction 2007, the University re- newly renovated, state-of-the- behind J. Walter Wilson

FALL 2009 Page 3

NEW FAMIS IMPLEMENTATION PLAN SCHEDULED FAMIS CORE TEAMS Facilities Management’s FAMIS grammer Kevin Izzo has been sold service maintenance pro- maintenance management sys- working diligently with the Uni- jects and events will be man- tem will be going through some versity’s CIS Business Systems aged using the FAMIS project ap- Five subcommittees were major changes in the next six Manager Elaine Saklad, CIS Hu- plication, reducing the need to formed to define and ana- lyze the current business months. As part of our long-term man Resources Manager Mary create “secondary labor” work process and plan for a new goal of improving Facilities’ re- Ryan, and Facilities’ Finance of- orders, which hamper account- “will be” process: sponsiveness to the University, fice to create and test the new ability. how we use FAMIS will change interfaces. To date, we have al- Until the January 2010 “go-live” for the better in many significant ready eliminated the outdated FAMIS Core Team date, most users will continue to ways. On Monday, January 11, Facilities Management timecard see incremental changes such Accounting/Purchasing 2010, FAMIS will be “re- system, TCS. Plans are under- as more frequent updates to implemented”; and several new way to also replace the old bill- Equipment/Preventive FAMIS software, new workbench applications and procedural ing and inventory systems, POP Maintenance views, new procedure library changes will go into effect. and Wordstock. tasks, new maintenance types, Maintenance Projects/ Noting that FAMIS is only as use- and new status codes. After Events/Estimates ful as our ability to use it prop- January 11th our billing types will Service Response/Work erly, another Core Team goal change; purchasing, inventory, Order Management has been to document and re- customer billing, and operational form the existing business proc- projects will be handled in Space Management esses. The IT team and consult- FAMIS. More importantly, we ant Mike Keelin, from Accruent, will change the way we prioritize Inc. (formerly FAMIS Software, and handle work orders through Inc.), have been working with the current schedule work- For the past two years, Systems each subcommittee to identify benches. Consultants from Ac- and Services Director Monty how the FAMIS software can be cruent, Inc. will be on hand to Combs has been working with configured and used to help assist with any last minute tech- leaders in several Facilities’ of- solve chronic process prob- nical or process challenges. fices to develop a more effective lems. As a result of numerous All FAMIS users will be trained business process, one that committee meetings, a new ac- on the new business procedures makes better use of the full set counting set-up has been de- and users of the new modules of FAMIS features. fined and configured, and new will also receive training. Train- business processes have been One of the Core Team’s primary ing will begin this fall and con- designed to work with it. Among goals has been to fully imple- tinue through to the winter other changes, division supervi- ment the FAMIS accounting and break. sors will take more responsibility inventory modules and integrate for managing, FAMIS purchasing, billing, and assigning, and payroll with the University’s Fi- closing work or- nancial Records System ders in (FRS). Combs, along with mem- FAMIS. The in- bers from each team, has con- ventory module ferred with several key Brown and purchasing University officials, including Uni- system will also versity Auditor Utibe Offiong, Uni- be imple- versity Controller Don Schanck, mented, giving and CIS Director of Enterprise Examples of process design us better ac- Application Services John Styer, countability of to secure their cooperation and stock parts and service pur- assistance in making this inte- chase orders. Multi-crew and gration possible. Facilities’ Pro-

FACILITIES NEWS Page 4

THE FISCAL YEAR-END PROCESS

Many people wonder about the fiscal year- items and transactions, including materials we are required to account for them. This end process undertaken by Facilities Man- received but not paid for, materials issued means that we must estimate the amounts agement’s Finance Office (Business Sup- from the stockroom but not charged out to of these bills based on projections that port) each June and July. While most Facili- work orders, and every combination of the take into account previous months’ and ties staff are still recovering from Com- two (issued and charged out but not paid years’ consumption, the timing since the mencement, Business Support is just gear- for, issued but not paid for and not previous invoices, and a myriad of other ing up for its busy time. In addition to set- charged, etc.). The mere combinations details right down to the weather. Given ting up new standing work orders and blan- alone are mind boggling, but when you the thousands of utility accounts that ket purchase orders to carry us through the factor in the thousands of stock issuances Brown has, this can also be a significant next fiscal year, there are a multitude of we must fill and account for each year, and undertaking; and with many eyes on this tasks which need to be done to properly the three documentation requirements for increasingly important (and expensive) close out the previous fiscal year and en- each one (purchase order, packing slip, area of our budget, the criticality of being sure that our efforts are accurately ac- and invoice), the task can quickly become accurate and timely to this end cannot be counted for. When you consider that the overwhelming. Keen organizational skills, underestimated. FY09 Facilities Management operating a sharp focus, and dogged determination The area of procurement of contracted budget was approximately $52 million, and to see each one through accurately are services is often one that draws much at- that we have only a short window of time to needed to accomplish this task. tention, as well as many questions. The close down the year, the volume, scope, On the utilities front, the challenge is to rule of thumb for recognizing a service and timing of the tasks at hand can be compensate for the timing difference often expense in one year or another generally staggering. Brown’s fiscal year begins on inherent in utilities invoicing. As many of involves consideration of when the work, or July 1st and ends on June 30th, with a win- you experience at home, there is often a the majority of the work (in cases of ser- dow for reviewing and closing the books lag between the service period and the vices that span fiscal years), is performed. that is open until only the second or third time you receive your bill to pay. As we This rule of thumb comes in handy when week of July for Business Support staff to need to have everything accounted for dealing with situations where there is a complete most of the process. within a couple of weeks after June 30th, potential surplus or deficit in the budget; it In the area of Stores Operations, we per- we often are not afforded the luxury of wait- would be very easy to let this be the guiding form a detailed review of all outstanding ing until we receive the actual bills before light for ...continued on next page

TECH TIP - SENDING LARGE FILES WITH DROP BOX

Have you ever tried emailing a large file only to find that the file is too large to mail? Try out Brown’s Digital Dropbox, which provides tem- porary web-based storage for sharing mid to large data files of any type. The system is provided and maintained by the Center for Computation and Visualization, which is currently conducting a Beta test for the Brown University Digital Dropbox.

A unique URL is provided for each file that can be given to others for downloading. This service is currently available as a full functioning beta test to all faculty, staff, and graduate students. To use this service simply go to https://dropbox.brown.edu, no other software is required.

 To access the dropbox, you need to Login with your Brown ID.  Once logged in, “browse” or “upload” your file.  Copy the URL and then paste the URL into your email.  The email recipient will then simply click on the URL to download the file, no user ID or password needed. You can, however, password protect the file or require a password.  Go to HTTP://dropbox.brown.edu and choose help menu for more info.

FALL 2009 Page 5

THE FISCAL YEAR-END PROCESS CONT’D ODE TO AN ACCRUAL

What joy to an accountant it brings, ...continued from previous page charging for us in performing and accounting for To hold onto the budget strings, expenses in one year or the next. So it is these jobs in a very short time frame. Of- Get all those fiscal payments out, all the more important for us to recognize ten jobs that begin late in the fiscal year That’s what year-end is all about the true deciding factors in order for us to remain open and carry over into the next be consistent and remain within the Univer- fiscal year, necessitating partial invoicing Stock issue slips, all in a pile, sity’s guidelines, as well as the prevailing and reopening of the books for these jobs We now must charge you, to reconcile, regulatory guidelines, which are known as on July 1st. We receive many customer Our books to those of Brown’s on time, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles inquiries on our billable services, especially To stop this freight train on a dime, (GAAP). In order to ensure that we are in at year-end when customers try to review line with these rules, we review each out- and balance their budget all at once in a Sold Service clients check their bills, All the way back to last summer’s thrills, standing purchase order as of June 30th, very short time period. We field the questions from all year long, and review the status with the requesting Of course, these processes are all inter- To catch them up, our case is strong, party to determine the proper treatment. twined, as material and contracted service Services that have been performed often charges being sorted through and adjusted Utility bills still on the way, require our follow-up with vendors to obtain often affect billable services, etc. Although But we must record them “Now! Today!” invoices that can be recorded, or in the Be patient while we make the calls, we are working on improving the coordina- absence of invoices, a separate process of And forecast with our crystal balls, tion, organization, and availability of this recognizing these costs by ‘accruing’ the information through our work on the new expenses until the invoice is paid. Each Checking over the purchase req’s, FAMIS system, the systems we use now accrued invoice represents a reconciling To make sure they all meet the specs, often are not compatible and require man- item that must then be followed up on to “It’s based on when the work is done,” ual intervention. Inevitably all of the above Is our basic rule of thumb, ensure ultimate resolution, sometimes well factor into balancing our operating budget into the next fiscal year. as a whole, where even a miniscule vari- It takes 3 closings - “Why,” you say? Another important element of the year-end ance percentage wise can result in a sig- More entries come out every day, process is settling up with our customers nificant dollar difference; for example, half We empty out all the tills, on all of our billable services. In addition to of one percent too high means over a quar- To get our shortfalls close to nil,

the challenge of dealing with these hun- ter million dollar deficit for the University to Then it’s time to take the ball, dreds of jobs and University customers, deal with. So, as you catch your breath and make it balance, overall, often we have many requests from depart- after the next Commencement, please $52 million, “Where did it go?” ments for these services towards the end remember that the Finance Office has a All the top dogs want to know, of the year, when it becomes apparent that huge undertaking about to unfold; and may they have potential surplus money to need your help to make it a success. And if by chance there’s something left, spend before June 30th or risk having that Thanks to all of you who contribute to mak- Of carryovers we are bereft, unused money swept from their budgets. ing the fiscal year transition as smooth and The Budget Office joins the scene, This creates an added significant challenge accurate as possible! and wipes all our surpluses clean.

FALL 2009 Page 6

EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM WASTE STREAM DIVERSION As part of the Continuous to identify training opportuni- updating the KSA’s for each This year we achieved the Improvement Plan, the de- ties for employees and en- of the current position in the highest recycling rate (and partment is creating and sure proficiency in their posi- department. Once this is tonnage) in the history of implementing an Employee tions. Employees will also be completed, KSA’s will then be recycling at Brown with a Development Program that able to use this information connected to relevant train- 38% diversion rate. This will allow staff to improve to identify training needed to ing opportunities. After a trial was helped by the fact that their knowledge, skills, and advance to higher level posi- period in one of the depart- we recycled 418 tons of abilities (KSA’s) in their cur- tions and move up estab- ment’s functional areas, we material more this year rent positions, and gain the lished career ladders. The will be ready to roll out the than last, and produced tools necessary to develop end result of this will be a database and the program to less waste this year than toward higher level positions. fully trained, high-performing the entire department.” last. We are hoping that staff, and increased opportu- between our new e-waste At the core of the project is a If you have any questions nities for high performers to contractor with a wider Filemaker Pro database that about the Employee Develop- advance in their careers. array of collection activities, will allow staff and supervi- ment Program or would like and our new recycling/ sors to see the KSA’s neces- According to the project team more information, please waste contract with a co- sary to succeed in a position. leader, Facilities Manage- contact Jack Wilcox, 863- mingled and streamlined Each KSA will be linked to a ment’s Human Resources 9388, collection method, we’ll series of training sessions Manager Jack Wilcox, “At [email protected]. achieve a 40% diversion that support it. Supervisors present, content is being rate in FY10. will then use this information added to the database by

BROWN EMISSIONS REDUCTION PLAN

The top black line represents what our carbon footprint would be if we did nothing to improve our energy effi- ciency. The wedges between the top and middle line represent the ways in which we are going to lower our carbon footprint and the approximate number of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCDE) each of those measures represent. The middle black line represents the approved goal of reducing carbon emissions 42% below 2007 for existing buildings, up to 50% better than code for new construction, and up to 30% better than code for acquired buildings. Interim reduction goals are 4% per year from 2008 through 2011, 3% per year from 2012 through 2019, and 2% in 2020. We are pleased to report that we are on target to meet that goal. The bottom black line represents the goal recommended by the Energy & Environmental Advisory Committee, which was not adopted because it included the purchase of renewable energy credits and offsets, not reduced carbon emission. At this time, Brown would like to focus finances and efforts on reducing the impact of our emissions on campus and the surrounding area.

FALL 2009 Page 7

NEW MATERIALS HANDLING CONTRACT RI HALL REOPENS Effective September 1, 2009, Facilities Management

hired a new materials handling contractor to manage Rhode Island Hall has be- the University’s waste and recycling needs under one come the permanent home contract. With a change in vendors came a change in collection containers. Our new vendor agreed to pro- of the Artemis A.W. and vide GRAY dumpsters for trash and BLUE dumpsters Martha Sharp Joukowsky for recyclable material. No longer will we have to open Institute for Archaeology all those toter lids to figure out which is for white paper, which is for mixed paper, and which is for contain- ers. All recyclables are now dumped in the BLUE..

FM PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM

As a result of a recognized and to Deb Dunphy any is- photos taken by FM Partner need to improve customer sues or concerns raised. Sarah Vitale (receptionist); communications, the Facili- Tony was then able to identify In the large user groups, Fa- ties Management FM Part- that there was a leaking roof cilities Management is repre- nership Program was de- in need of repair. At Kassar sented by Planning, Design & signed to improve communi- Gould, the customer could Construction and Operations cation and to establish a not log into Facilities Man- & Engineering, with depart- close partnership between agement’s Facilities Self Ser- ment heads selecting their university departments and vice (FSS) system. FM Part- representation. Having eve- Facilities Management. The ner Lisa Betcher (project ryone at the table at the program, led by Director of administration and finance same time has proved critical Facilities Services Deb Dun- manager) called on Kevin to timely problem solving. phy, is now fully underway Izzo (programmer analyst), Initially, meetings were held with seven large user groups who was able to visit the monthly to gain momentum and individual representation department and give them and to address a backlog of for smaller departments. access. These are small issues. They are now held Early feedback, on the pro- steps that go a long way to quarterly and “serve as a gram, has been positive: making departments feel that ‘report card’ on Facilities “Increased two-way commu- they are being heard and well Management’s performance nications has resulted in served. throughout the year,” accord- greater customer satisfaction Tangential benefits to the with Facilities Management,” program include the team said Dunphy. building that has been cre- A typical Partnership meeting ated with Facilities through includes time to introduce the large user group meet- Facilities’ services, the uni- ings. Another benefit is the versity’s energy policy, heat- early resolution of issues. ing and cooling systems over- ing to Dunphy. Working like an ambassador view, and an orientation to within Facilities, Deb is able Beyond improved customer Facilities’ website and FAMIS to raise concerns with man- satisfaction, there have been work order and sold service agers to head off problems tangible benefits to the pro- function. FM Partners are before they have a chance to gram. For instance, at 67 encouraged to tour the build- escalate. If you have ques- George, Manager of Struc- ing, with the building rep, and tions about the program or tural and Trades Projects record and report back to the would like more information, Antonio Mendes reviewed appropriate Facilities’ staff please contact Deb Dunphy Stop by and check it out! BROWN UNIVERSITY Offices: FACILITIES MANAGEMENT ▪ Custodial ▪ Engineering ▪ Events Support ▪ Finance ▪ Human Resources and Labor Relations ▪ Maintenance Services ▪ Planning Design & Construction ▪ Service Response Center ▪ Stores Operations ▪ Systems and Services ▪ Real Estate

Newsletter Team: Donna Butler, Trisha Duff, Marc Elderkin, Peter Fox, Lichen Grewer, Ginger Gritzo, Mike Lopes, Tracy Mansour, Amy Morton, Dan Murphy, Paula Penelton, Victor Rebelo

Contributors: Scott Lloyd, Chris Powell, Jack Wilcox, and David Woodward

Skylight at the Artemis A.W. and Martha Sharp Jou- kowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World

COMINGS & GOINGS REMINDERS SAVE THE DATE

Welcome New Employees! National Custodial Workers Day—October Flu Clinics at Facilities (295 Lloyd, 3rd Floor)— October 6th, 7:00 to 9:00 and 2:00 to 4:00.  Patricia DeFazio, Custodial Supervisor, 2nd. PM West Campus Fall Weekend (Columbus Day) Holiday— 5th Annual Tailgate Party (Princeton Tigers v.  Gary Perrotta, Chief Engineer, Central October 12th. Brown Bears)—October 17th. For tickets and Heat Plant to sign up for potluck, call Sarah at x3-7850 Winter Break—Beginning at 5:00 PM on or email [email protected]. 12/23/09 to 8:30 AM on Monday, 1/4/10. Stewards’ Meeting – 1st Wednesday of each Inclement Weather (Emergency) Hotline— month. 863-3111. Labor/Management Meetings – 2nd Wednes- Have a question about your uniforms or day of each month. safety goggles? Contact Dan Murphy at x3- 7780 or [email protected].

Submit your ideas for Savings Suggestions to http://www.brown.edu/web/economy/content/ West entry doors at RI Hall

CONTRIBUTING TO THE NEWSLETTER This edition of Facilities News includes information regarding many of our efforts underway. It has been written to provide all Facilities Man- agement employees with information regarding Department activities across the various offices. If you have any suggestions for articles or would like to contribute to Facilities News please contact Lichen Grewer at 863-9416 or [email protected].