At a recent building coordinators quarterly meeting, building coordinators asked if an outage notification calendar could be provided online and updated with both planned and emergency outage information. They expressed that having this information would be helpful for them and their building occupants.
Facilities Management took the building coordinators request, did some research and looked at several options. As a result, an outage notification calendar, utilizing Google calendar and Google docs, is available online.
Building coordinators can now find outages, beginning with June 2014, for their facilities showing the date and time of the outage, which facilities will be impacted, what the outage is for, primary and secondary contact information, the onsite contractor contact information, and the approval date of the outage. By clicking on the calendar item, the viewer will open several more screens, including the Outage Notification form, which can be printed if desired. Building coordinators may have noticed that the email which communicates the outage information provides the link to the outage notification calendar and the outage form instead of the outage notification graphic being included in the email message.
If you have any questions related to this new outage notification calendar feature, please let us know.
Pat Deeves, assistant director for the Art Department and the primary building coordinator for the last four years for the Fine Arts building and South Park Annex, retired at the end of June from the University of Houston.
Deeves has been a great partner and collaborator and she knows her buildings.
“I had the pleasure of working with Pat early on during a facilities building inspection tour. As I walked the Fine Arts building with Pat, I was impressed with how much she knew about the building, its facility history and systems, down to the smallest detail. I was in awe of her facility knowledge and over the last number of years, I have had the opportunity to work with her and I continue still to appreciate that knowledge,” said Jacquie Vargas, communications manager for Facilities Management.
“When Pat informed me that she was retiring, I asked if I could share this information in the July BC Corner. I’m glad she agreed because it gives me the opportunity to thank her for all of her support and friendship, especially as we interacted through the Building Coordinator Program and many facilities-related communications.”
The meet and greet events are part of the ongoing building coordinator program initiative and are designed to provide an opportunity for building occupants to meet their building coordinators. In addition, these events provide a forum for open discussion and dialogue between building occupants, building coordinators and staff members from Facilities Management and Facilities Planning and Construction.
They are held at different facilities throughout the year. The Building Coordinator Program reaches out to the building coordinators of different facilities, coordinating with them for a time and location suitable and convenient to them and their facilities. Once a time and place is confirmed, the building coordinator helps communicate the event to their building occupants.
The meet and greets are proving to be both beneficial and informative and are helping bridge the gap between the services and programs provided by Plant Operations and the building occupants. Additionally, it is our hope that they help bring to the forefront and recognize the role each building coordinator provides as they facilitate communications, support facility capital planning, represent user needs within the buildings and help enhance and improve facility services on campus.
The next one has been scheduled for Farish Hall occupants and building coordinators on Thursday, July 10. If you would like to request a meet and greet be hosted at your facility, contact Jacquie Vargas, jmvarga5@central.uh.edu.
Please take an opportunity to review your building coordinator contact information and buildings assigned to you at the building coordinator website list. Please let us know if you have any corrections, additions or deletions that need to be made.
Building Coordinators Corner is a monthly newsletter provided by Plant Operations—Facilities Management to help communicate tips, information and announcements relevant to building coordinators and their building occupants. For more information, contact Jacquie Vargas at jmvarga5@central.uh.edu.