Facilities Management & Planning advertorial.

In this month's special advertorial section we salute those businesses that provide services under the category of Facilities Management and Planning. Because of these companies and their commitment to education, schools around the country have upgraded facilities, new buildings and additions, maintenance and security that keep our children and their environment safe, and landscaping that ensures that our schools are welcoming.

The companies featured here are development firms and architects, construction companies and firms that provide a wide variety of invaluable services that our schools--from small rural elementary schools to large urban high schools--and students must have to be successful.

We thank these industry leaders for their support of AASA's monthly magazine and its members. For more information about any of these companies, take advantage of the contact information in each ad to get in touch with their representative or to visit their websites.

If you are interested in being included in our Food Services Advertorial section in September 2004, please contact AASA's advertising representative, Bob Jenkins, The Townsend Group, at 301-215-6710 or [e-mail].

CORPORATE PROFILE INDEX

Aramark

Edugration

Qualite Lighting

Johnson Controls 

Lawson Software 

Sodexho School Services 

WaterFurnace

Edugration's IAQ Team Automates EPA's 'Tools For Schools'

Indoor air quality has become a major issue for public educators. The EPA's "Tools For Schools" program offers help through an extensive survey system. Paper surveys are burdensome and expensive. Edugration has automated the EPA's "Tools For Schools" program with their web-based application--IAQ Survey Studio.

Using the powerful IAQ Survey Studio, administrators can quickly compile data and keep accurate records. The Edugration IAQ Survey can be implemented using the existing IT infrastructure, further reducing the expense associated with traditional paper surveys. Along with dynamic reporting and graphical representation of findings, information can be quickly analyzed and acted upon to ensure proper IAQ.

For more information, e-mail [e-mail] or call 281-932-0255. Visit www.edugration.com.

Contact: Don Vickers

Tel: [phone]

www.edugration.com

Qualite[R] Lights New West Des Moines Sports Field

Spill light control became a critical issue in lighting a new soccer/football field adjoining the recently completed eight-million dollar West Des Moines High School. Concerns by school and city officials about the possibility of annoying spill light in the neighborhood caused architects to arrange an after-dark test to prove Qualite's ability to direct uniform light onto the playing surface while controlling light trespass. While other manufacturers were unable to meet the challenge, Qualite's Gold Series passed the test and was selected by architects for its engineered light control, factory wired, pre-aimed, pre-assembled system that saves installation costs, and Qualite's patented Maintenance Diagnostics System that simplifies maintenance over the life of the system.

Qualite Sports Lighting Division

250 Industrial Drive

Hillsdale, MI 49242

Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

www.qualite.com

A New Approach to Building Schools

It's a new school of thought. Schools have been built the same way for nearly 100 years, but everything else about education--teaching, technology, curriculum and students--has changed. With an approach called Lifecycle Program Management, Johnson Controls, Inc. helps school districts address the record-breaking need for K-12 school construction by designing and building school facilities with the end in mind. This approach produces high-performance schools with systems that work together as an integrated whole. The company guarantees facility performance results at lower lifecycle costs.

The most direct measure of a school's success is whether its students excel. When schools are built through a holistic approach to school construction, students enjoy the best possible environment in which to learn, achieve and succeed. At the planning stage, Johnson Controls assures that facility designs support long-term educational needs with a thorough understanding of state standards. In addition, this approach benchmarks against national best practices and helps turn facility improvement savings into project funding. Johnson Controls handles as much or as little of a project as a school desires.

Traditional construction processes tend to focus exclusively on the lowest initial costs instead of looking at the lifecycle costs, 75 percent of which are incurred after construction. In addition, streamlined solutions simplify the construction process. As a single, accountable partner, Johnson Controls translates a vision into a plan, executes that plan on time and closely monitors its implementation.

Elk River Area School District in Minnesota enlisted the help of Johnson Controls program management expertise to greatly improve learning environments at a lower lifecycle cost. "Johnson Controls has demonstrated their expertise in the lifecycle program management approach and we've relied on them to implement a solution that will provide the best possible savings long-term," says Dr. Ron Braille, director of business and operations, Elk River Area School District.

Often, school facilities can find alternative funding within their districts. Whether it's utilization of avoided costs for funding or targeted application of savings from facility improvements, Johnson Controls helps school districts tap into external governmental and non-governmental funding sources. Through its involvement in the design and construction of a high-performance school, Johnson Controls can lower and guarantee costs over a facility's life.

At Johnson Controls, our core business is helping customers around the world create building environments that are comfortable, safe, efficient and productive. We understand that there is a direct connection between classroom environments and student performance, which is why we are committed to working with schools and educational institutions to create environments for achievement.

Johnson Controls, Inc.

P.O. Box 423

Milwaukee, WI 53201

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

www.johnsoncontrols.com

Transparency, Accountability and Technology: Doing More

Today's schools are being held to ever-increasing levels of accountability and performance. School districts are challenged to address the needs of teachers, students, administrators and parents, while adhering to stringent new regulatory mandates. These challenges must be addressed while dealing with the realities of budgetary constraints and the need to provide more services within the same budget pie. Giving schools new tools they can use to better manage their financial and human resource processes is one strategy districts can take to address their challenges.

District leadership can introduce more efficiency, transparency and accountability into their systems by using technologies that better automate critical business functions and provide better management information. Automating and integrating human resources, purchasing and financial processes in one system allows districts to better manage limited resources. It also provides more accurate reporting and management information. School districts that use powerful technologies to support their core business functions, efficiently manage their resources and provide detailed information make these processes more transparent and accountable.

Streamlining Human Resources

More efficient HR processes benefit schools by eliminating many manual administrative tasks. New software applications can help streamline recruiting, benefits administration, position management and encumbrance reporting. Lawson Human Resources Suite automates repetitive HR tasks so HR managers can focus on recruiting and retaining great staff, and hence enable great teaching for kids.

Smarter Purchasing

Improving district purchasing processes benefits schools by allowing them to easily make a purchase at the best price, with accountability. Requisitioning supplies is often so complicated that schools don't take advantage of discounts the district already has. The result: Districts do not benefit from their negotiated price discounts and can't properly project expenses.

Automating purchasing processes enables schools to make better-informed decisions on allocating limited resources. For example, Lawson Procurement Suite helps districts track purchasing data and consolidate orders. It also allows principals to view purchase volumes and budgets in real-time, ultimately leading to enhanced accountability and transparency for district purchases.

School districts that outperform their peers enjoy higher levels of community support. A range of smaller school districts to four of the 25 largest school districts in the nation depend on Lawson's solutions to help meet the needs of a variety of stakeholders--students, constituents, employees, vendors and the community--while maximizing limited budgets and keeping spending on target. To learn more about how school districts are using Lawson's solutions to increase the transparency in their operations, please visit www.lawson.com/success119 or call 1-800-477-1357.

Lawson Software

380 St. Peter Street, St. Paul, MN 55102

Tel: [phone] / Fax: [phone]

E-mail: [e-mail]

www.lawson.com