by Camille Perlman
Hall renovations and amenities alone will not make students feel welcome and comfortable, but offering the right products and services can contribute significantly to the residential experience. This can be accomplished only by having in-depth conversations with vendors so that staff can make the best decisions and take the student experience to the next level. The lesson here is this: The better the relationship is with your vendors, the better student experience you can provide.
Participants in this conversation are Aaron Lucier, director of housing operations at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina; Kyle Estes, associate director of housing facilities services at Texas State University in San Marcos; Kathy Daley, senior director of university housing at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina; and Larry Christenson, executive director of university housing at Georgia College in Milledgeville.
Aaron Lucier: Vendor and contract partnerships are like many things in higher education – it’s relationship building. New professionals should explore exhibit halls in a thoughtful way, thinking of what products your department may need now. You can share new products with the purchase decision makers, if you are empowered to do so. Also, you can explore products that might help you in your next position or in a position that may be part of your career path.
Kyle Estes: Contracts are written agreements that outline details for which each party is responsible. You need to know what services the vendor is contractually obligated to provide, but also what you are expected to provide. You need to read and know your contract. Sometimes your contract may have significant differences from the vendor’s standard practices, and the person coming to provide service may not know those differences and will fall back on their typical service experience, which may not meet your expectations or requirements. It is up to you to point these differences out and ensure that you get the services that were contracted. Because a contract is an obligation for the institution, you need to have a basic understanding of campus and state rules governing contracts. For instance, on my campus all contracts, even one for a guest speaker, require a VP signature (or their designee). Your plans need to account for the time it will take to adhere to the rules about contracts. Sometimes your institution may have a larger contract that benefits the institution as a whole but may not provide your department with the most cost effective solution. In those situations, you have to remember the bigger picture, and if all goes well the campus contract will work to your benefit on other purchases and services.
Kathy Daley: As facilities professionals, we are the gatekeepers for providing products and services that meet goals and expectations from a variety of stakeholders. In order to do our jobs, we must work within the parameters determined by institutional, local, state, and federal entities. Understanding the procurement rules and processes for your institution is the first and most important responsibility when considering contracts. This is an enormous responsibility and cannot be understated: Know your policies. When oriented correctly, working with contracted vendors can provide a number of operational and financial benefits.
However, working with contracts looks a little bit different from other day-to-day operations within an institution. Oftentimes in a higher ed setting, we are nimble in ways that consider context and the framer’s intent for certain policies or challenges. Expectations have a fluid quality to them that can be changed en route to the goal. This same approach can also be used with some vendors; however, the driving agent of all contracts is deeply rooted in concrete language. The letter of law contained in the contract trumps innovation and ideas uncaptured in the mutually understood legalities. This is why it is very important to create an all-inclusive, forward-thinking, clear, and measurable contract. A well-written, very specific contract that highlights goals, expectations, and even prescribed methods will start any new contract out on the right beat. Contractual expectations do require a level of accountability; however, keep in mind that contracts also afford us an opportunity to truly partner with vendors by removing barriers, communicating appreciation, and welcoming them into the institutional family. Vendor work is valuable work. When they succeed, we succeed. The more care demonstrated and positive interactions that occur with a vendor, the better service that will be provided.
Larry Christenson: Kyle and Kathy, you are correct. I think we often forget the vast number of contracts we are involved with: everything from laundry, vending, and dining services to purchases of furniture, carpet, equipment, and cleaning supplies. The list is endless. In some cases, we are limited to state contracts or low bids when trying to match existing products on our campuses. To Aaron’s point, often entry- or even mid-level staff members feel like they are not the decision makers, so there is not much value to build the relationships with the vendors. Nothing could be further from the truth. Over the years I have been introduced to new items and services by younger staff who are keen on something they have seen or heard about. The exhibit halls at our state, regional, and international conferences are more than a place to pick up free marketing trinkets and put business cards into bowls to try to win door prizes. I always encourage my staff to strike up a conversation to learn more about the products on display and, more importantly, get to know the representative and their personal and professional experiences.
Partnerships with our vendors are vital to the life of our organizations. They invest time visiting our campuses and attending our conferences. They expend significant financial resources in travel, hotels, booth spaces, shipping items for display, sponsorships, large-scale social dinners, ad spaces in the Talking Stick . . . the list goes on and on. We owe it to our vendor partners to learn about their products and services!
Estes: Job shadowing and offering new professionals the opportunity to observe contract processes are good ways to gain exposure and generate Q&A discussions.
Lucier: Involve new professionals in your process as appropriate. If you are having a bid selection, include hall staff or other new professionals. Take new professionals with you to the exhibit hall at a conference, introduce them to your contacts, and share how you leverage the products and services on your campus. I completely agree with Kyle on shadowing!
Daley: We do facilities roundtable discussions with our young professionals to allow them to learn and ask questions in an open dialogue format a couple of times a semester. Also, we encourage our staff to take advantage of shadowing or mentorship opportunities with our leadership team and housing facility operations supervisors. We engage our professionals in planning efforts for projects as an additional option for passing the information on, and we absolutely believe in connecting it all with the exhibit hall at conferences. This helps them see the valuable two-way benefits of developing relationships with vendors even before they are the decision makers. Finally, we encourage them to arm themselves with the knowledge and begin developing the relationships and to believe that they can be influencers.
Christenson: I was told many years ago, “You will never hire a strong operations/facilities manager; you will train them.†Most entry-level staff enter their careers focused on residential life, and that is to be expected, but those who take the time to learn about contracts, budgets, facilities, products, and services will progress much more quickly in their quest to move up in administration. Our vendor contractors often watch professional staff grow into their careers and can be great resources as they move from one institution to another.
State, regional, and international conferences are great opportunities, but I encourage staff to reach beyond their comfort zones by attending a facilities conference where they can learn about exciting things like mold, bedbugs, mattresses, carpet, and fabric. Or they can attend a business operations conference and learn about marketing, assignments, software, and many other things that are not currently the primary focus of their daily work. Kyle makes a great point about opportunities for learning skills needed for the next level. I think facilities operations offers many more opportunities for exposure to these skills and experiences. Sometimes opportunities are on a smaller scale, and young professionals can assist and learn with less risk. (Of course my experience is based on having facilities operations as a unit within housing and not based in the institution’s physical plant group. That structure could be a bit more challenging for a young residence life professional.)
Lucier: It is important because today’s new staff are our next mid-level and future senior staff. I learned a lot from following the examples of others around me and before me. As our field has become more complex, we have used contracts and vendors to expand what we do with outside expertise and products. This allows us to keep some of our focus on what we value: the relationships with students. Specialized software is often an important tool in process improvement and in the expectations that today’s students have for customer service.
Estes: I like to set others up for success, and I appreciated when other professionals gave me advice or opportunities to learn and be better prepared – sort of passing it on to the next generation in order to help the profession. Passing it on to others also helps provide more voices to tell your story. So often people make assumptions based on incomplete information, and when it is shared, the receiver takes it as 100% accurate. If we help develop a broader knowledge base in other young professionals, they can be ambassadors with others and help to correct the narrative when necessary.
Daley: It is important that young professionals begin developing their knowledge base and building the relationships with vendors to ideally empower them to then share their opinions as an influencer; this also better prepares them for when they become the decision makers – not to mention that it is a major step forward with several key professional competencies for next-level positions.
Christenson: Amen, Kathy! Nobody likes being stuck in a rut. Burnout is very real. We have all seen energetic young professionals enter the field and walk away in three to five years. Allowing them to broaden their perspective and see opportunities beyond the entry-level live-in staff positions strengthens their chances of progressing in their careers. I often tell my staff I may not be walking through Oz with you, but know I am like the Wizard. I am behind the curtain doing all sorts of things that allow our residents and staff to have a better experience. I value every relationship I have with vendors, who have always been extremely resourceful over the years to offer products and services that make our student experiences better.
Lucier: There are so many. While what a student experiences in terms of connecting to their community is very important, their experience with services like laundry, cable TV, Internet, work orders, or even getting a package can set the ground for a good or not so good experience. Meeting or exceeding students’ (and their families’) expectations of services often includes working with vendors. So building solid expectations for service quality in the bidding process and resulting contracts is important. Then holding that contract partner to those expectations is key, which requires observation and back checking. Saying “Well, that is not us . . . that is one of our vendors†will not generally help an upset customer find resolution. Kyle made a great point about getting items in writing and tracking what is discussed for the future.
Estes: Ask your peers for copies of their contracts for similar services. See what they have included. You can learn from them and don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Just remember that there are differences between campuses, states, and regions of the country. Develop relationships with the point of contact for the vendor, but also follow up conversations in writing. Sending emails that express thanks for meeting and talking are a good, non-threatening way to make sure everyone is on the same page and to document what was discussed and decided. Today’s housing professionals have to understand that outside service providers contribute to the overall student living experience. We have to help our vendors understand that we want them to partner with us in providing an exceptional on-campus experience that contributes positively to a student’s educational experience. That takes both building personal relationships and getting clear expectations in the contract.
Daley: When positioning yourself as a new facilities professional, it is important to build relationships not only with those inside your institution, but also with external stakeholders and vendors connected to your institution. Most new professionals do not bring a lot of product and service expertise with them into their facilities role, and that is okay. Putting yourself in front of a variety of vendors, who are subject matter experts, will give you insights that extend rudimentary theories on how facilities work to actual practice.
That being said, it is important to also understand the context inherently connected with vendor information. In my experience, vendors are great people, genuinely interested in a partnership that makes my institution better. However, it is also essential to understand that they initiate relationships as means to sales. We must weigh vendor information and filter suggestions not only through a facilities supervisor lens, but also as a buyer. There are several good options to solve most problems, each with varying costs and impacts. Making the best decision requires asking the right questions that not only highlight the benefits, but also discover the costs and limitations of working with a particular product or vendors. Vendor relationships will teach you details about your job that would otherwise be missed. Take thoughtful advantage of vendor expertise offers; this just might be the key to solving your next big challenge. Another valuable lesson is that investing in thoughtful planning on the front-end of projects is more cost effective and beneficial than retrofitting solutions after a project is completed. And a final lesson is to take your time with the details of contract and bid specifications. It can make all the difference in a successful vendor relationship and contract.
Christenson: You hit the main points! We are just a big extended family, and none of us reinvents the wheel. Reach out to your peers for copies of requests for proposals and requests for quotes. Make site visits to other campuses to see how products have held up or to see how services are being provided. I love a good factory tour to see how the products are made and how happy their employees are. I rarely pass up an opportunity to visit a dining hall when on a campus. Facilities tours, both of public areas and mechanical rooms, are always learning opportunities, and most often I walk away with new ideas.
Working directly with students is fun, but I have found more and more over the years that my enjoyment comes from creating environments that are comfortable and free of obstacles to allow our students to have the best higher education experience possible. Visiting other campuses and operations is definitely a valuable way to get new insights. That’s why the ACUHO-I/APPA Facilities Workshop campus tours are so well attended. Take the opportunity to set up your own visits to other campuses in your region and then invite them to come to your campus the following month. Don’t be afraid of what they will see behind the curtain, like in “The Wizard of Oz.†We all have our areas that need improvement.
