To:       Members of the University Community

From:    Kyu-Jung Whang
            Interim Vice President of University Facilities and Capital Planning

Date:    July 22, 2003

Re:       Reorganization of Facilities

     I would like to inform you of organizational changes that have recently taken place at University Facilities. In an effort to ensure that the university’s administration provides the most effective and efficient support for its academic programs, students, and the citizens of New Jersey, Executive Vice President Karen Kavanagh has restructured the administrative units reporting to her. You can view Karen’s new administrative structure by going to http://adminaffairs.rutgers.edu/. Our goal is to create an organization that is more transparent, service oriented, and communications based.

     I will be heading up University Facilities and Capital Planning as Interim Vice President with 5 areas reporting to me:  Facilities Maintenance Services (FMS), Facilities Project Administration (FPA), University Planning and Development (OUPD), Real Estate Administration, and Facilities Business and Administration (FBA). Here are some of the changes that have occurred:

*All New Brunswick/Piscataway FMS departments will be reporting to a single Interim Executive Director, Tony Calcado. It is imperative that FMS departments begin to function as a single cohesive unit, with standard procedures, policies, and processes. Dianne Gravatt will continue in her role as Director of C/D FMS and Joe Witkowski has been promoted to Director of FMS responsible for CAC and Utilities Plant operations. Tony will continue to manage B/L FMS.

*The Renovations Department, which previously reported to Construction Management, has been transferred to FMS. Don Bolinger has been appointed the Assistant Director of Renovations and now reports to Tony. One of Don’s primary duties is to find alternate and more efficient ways to implement small construction work at lower costs than we are paying right now. He will also evaluate ways to manage project budgets more effectively with up to date project financial accounting. We wanted to create a renovations group that is focused on performing small, quick turn-around projects that can be cost competitive with outside contractors. We are looking at ways to improve our accounting procedure for Renovations work, and provide up to date financial information and account forecasting to our customers. We feel that implementing smaller projects under the purview of FMS would provide the necessary oversight and accountability required for project success.

*The former Utilities department has devolved into 3 separate areas. Central plant and infrastructure operations will be under Joe Witkowski’s leadership in FMS, Utilities Engineering and regulatory compliance will be under Paul Meierdierck and OUPD, and energy procurement (electricity and natural gas) will continue to be implemented through the Energy Management Procurement Team.

*Perhaps the biggest changes have occurred in FPA where Gina Bleck has been appointed Interim Executive Director. With only a few state funded positions, FPA is a department that relies mainly on project funding. When Gina began the task of evaluating the department, we found its financial status far worse than anticipated. Simply put, we do not have the dollars in the account, nor potential future projects to support the existing staff. This was a painful decision but one we could not avoid making. We will work fervently to assure that this situation does not occur again in the future.

Gina’s new FPA would eliminate the boundary between Project Management and Construction Management. This change will have a profound impact on how project services will be delivered to you, our customers. Project managers, now called Project Team Leaders, will truly manage a project from its inception to completion, and not perform a hand off between 2 departments. Project Team Leaders will be your focal point of contact during all phases and will be given the authority to address your specific needs. Gina has initiated a search process to recruit a new Director of Project Services. This is a key position that will provide the necessary leadership and guidance in communicating with you and providing quality professional support so you can be assured of receiving the best project possible. It is our hope that the new FPA will provide our customers a one-stop, seamless service that will take them from start to finish, with greater accountability in managing the project’s budget and scope.

*Frank Wong as Interim Executive Director will head OUPD. Along with all physical planning functions, Frank will also be inheriting Capital Planning and Transportation Planning. Transportation Planning is a new function that spun out from our recent master planning process. We are all too familiar with daily transportation related problems at Rutgers, i.e. parking, congestion, inadequate roadway and bikeway infrastructures, etc. The new transportation planner would be responsible for developing the transportation plan as we implement our new master plan. The in- house design function has been assigned to Bob Winterle, as the Interim Director of Design Services. Bob will focus his efforts in providing design reviews, in-house design, and development of the Unversity Design Standards. Bob has also inherited another Senior Project Engineer, Paul Meierdierck, who will provide utilities related engineering support.

*Real Estate Management will be headed by Debra McNally and continue to report to me directly. Debra will be looking into ways to expand the department’s role in providing this very important service to the university, as she transitions from Bill Richardson’s organization.

*The former Facilities Financial Services has been renamed Facilities Business and Administration and will be headed by Gerald Thomas. The purpose of FBA is to provide central administrative support to all Facilities departments. Theses functions include financial accounting, human resources, computing support and document management.

     We will continue to evaluate all areas as we move forward in providing quality and cost-effective service to the university. We have to be responsible stewards of the University’s physical assets and be accountable for all our actions. Feel free to browse our home page at http://facilities.rutgers.edu for latest updates on what’s happening in Facilities and Capital Planning. You can also view the latest organizational chart delineating the functional areas reporting to me. I welcome your thoughts and input and feel free to speak with me about whatever is on your mind. I thank you all for your interest in Facilities and Capital Planning and hope to communicate with you again in the near future.

Very truly yours,

Kyu-Jung Whang
Interim Vice President