Biz Community Higher Ed Update Webinar

Monday, September 20th, 2021

Biz Community: Educating Future Facilities Management Professionals-Academic Curricula and Research

Did you know that colleges and universities around the country have developed curriculum to educate a new generation of facility management professionals? Did you know that FM-related research is being conducted at colleges and universities around the country? Like to learn more? The IFMA BIZ Community is sponsoring a panel webinar with five representatives of the academic community. The webinar is scheduled for 06 October 2021 at 1:00 PM Central. The session is open to everyone and is FREE!

The discussion will be highlighting two aspects of FM in academia:

Degree programs and their curricula
Academic research related to FM topics

Individuals in leadership positions within FM organizations will be made aware of these FM-related degree programs which can help them in their efforts to recruit the next generation of FM leaders.

Participants will also be made aware of the FM-related research that has been completed, research that is currently underway and research planned for the future. The goal of the research teams is to deliver the results of the research to the practitioners so they can improve their own operations. If you don’t know the research exists, you can’t take advantage of the results.

We will also be discussing how the members of the academic community have been engaging with the IFMA Foundation to “get the word out”.

Learning Objectives:
Increase awareness of colleges and universities offering FM-related degree programs
Learn about the curricula that has been develop to support the programs
Learn about FM-related research that has been completed, is currently underway and under consideration.
Learn how to access the results of the research.
Learn how to suggest various research topics of interest to the FM practitioners.

Panel participants:
Derek Hillestad – Graduate Research Associated – Arizona State University
Jake Smithwick – Assistant Professor – University of North Carolina – Charlotte
Regina Ford Cahill — Chair of Construction Management – Pratt Institute
Michael Bown – Associate Professor – Brigham Young University
Deniz Besiktepe – Assistant Professor – University of Wisconsin-Stout
Moderator: Doug Litwiller – Building Maintenance Optimization Consultants