Featured

• Planning
  

  CommUnity: Uniting Communities through School Design

  At the onset of a project, the design team and the district must unite to develop the appropriate “Visioning Process” to gain input from teachers, administrators, parents, students, and members of the public. This typically takes the form of in-person workshops or on virtual platforms as we encountered this past spring. The architect can then use that feedback to develop a customized school design that meets the district’s goals and expectations. 09/09/2020
• Podcast
  

  Schools In Focus: Food Service During a Pandemic

  In this episode of Schools In Focus podcast, I speak to Belinda Oakley, CEO of Chartwells K12 and Seth Ferriell, CEO of SSC Services for Education, about school food service during a pandemic. 09/08/2020
• Procurement
  

  Trends in Cooperative Purchasing

  School districts see value in using cooperative purchasing entities as they get a steady, predictable pricing structure and supplier source. 07/01/2020
• facilities
  

  Master Planning the Outdoors: Spaces for the Life of a Campus

  Some common strategies and parallel considerations are at play in all master planning for the outdoors. Each campus must first be approached on its own terms, free of predispositions on planning. 03/02/2020
• Higher Ed Services
  

  Bundling Auxiliary Services

  There is opportunity to better deliver on your institution’s mission. A new approach to the organization of service lines involves bundling the outsourcing of auxiliaries work. 01/01/2020
• Business (Managing Higher Ed)
  

  Partnering for Project Implementation

  How to find success in university facility and program management partnerships. 09/01/2019
• Business (Managing K-12 Education)

  Smart Buy

  Cooperative purchasing helps K-12 school districts keep the shelves fully stocked while saving money. 11/01/2018
• Business Practices (Achieving Administrative Excellence)

  Smart Buying

  Purchasing through cooperatives can help a college or university remain fully stocked with supplies while saving money for both the institution and its students. 11/01/2018
• Business (Managing Higher Ed)
  

  Trouble in Paradise: When Outsourcing Doesn't Work as Planned

  What are your options when outsourcing doesn't work as planned or intended? 05/01/2017
• Business (Managing K-12 Education)
  

  Should I or Shouldn't I? Facing the Outsourcing Decision

  Sometimes it's a more responsible use of resources to contract a service. But how do you know for sure? Here's how to work through the process. 05/01/2017
• Facilities (Learning Spaces)
  

  Meeting the Challenge

  How The Department of General Services used a non-profit service provider to assist in monitoring and verification of school repairs during a short timeframe. 01/01/2016
• Business (Managing K-12 Education)
  

  Cooperative Purchasing and Contract Services: Myths Vs. Truths

  There are many misperceptions in the K-12 community regarding cooperative purchasing and contract services. Here, we address some of those misperceptions by discussing the myths and truths of both. 10/01/2015
• Business (Managing Higher Ed)
  

  A Tale of Two Auxiliary Departments

  Outsource or keep it in house? That’s the question facing many college and university auxiliary departments. CP&M looks at two different schools with two different approaches. 10/01/2015
• Business Practices

  Safer Schools

  Lowering district costs with ESA partnerships. 09/01/2015
• 

  The University Store on Fifth

  Renovation creates a destination at the University of Pittsburgh. 06/01/2015
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  Cooperative Purchasing

  How schools are using it to upgrade security. 09/01/2014
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  Sustainable Purchasing for Schools

  This recently released guide provides a host of tools and resources for administrators, teachers and parents concerned with making healthy purchasing decisions that are good for students and the school environment. 09/01/2014
• Business (Managing K-12 Education)
  

  Saving Big With Cooperative Purchasing

  Cooperative purchasing allows districts and schools to stretch their limited dollars. Here's how. 02/01/2014
• Business (Managing Higher Ed)
  

  The Buddy System

  Don't believe there is strength in numbers? Then you don't know about purchasing cooperatives. These purchasing powerhouses save time, money and headaches. Are they right for your school? 02/01/2014
• Living Spaces (Furniture & Equpment)

  Purchasing Advice

  10/01/2013
• Smart Business & Purchasing
  

  You Better Shop Around

  It's time to take control of what you are spending on shipping costs. Since 2006, Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) has saved our taxpayers over $1 million negotiating our own transportation contracts. 09/01/2013
• Business (Managing Higher Ed)
  

  Measuring Success in Your Outsourced Services

  Here are five metrics for establishing and tracking performance and customer satisfaction in your outsourced campus services. 06/01/2013
• Business (Managing K-12 Education)
  

  Making the Outsourcing Decision

  Strong opinions aside, the truth is that many school districts outsource one or more services, and for reasons that include financial savings, as well as enhancing organizational flexibility, economies of scale, risk avoidance and access to capital invest 06/01/2013

• Managing Cooperatives

  Less work, good prices and higher-quality goods and services -- sounds great, but it doesn't always work great. While purchasing cooperatives will reduce your workload, there is still plenty of work to do. You have to select the right cooperative 03/01/2013