UTSA earns national award for excellence for facilities management

UTSA Vice President of Business Affairs Kathy Funk-Baxter and Associate Vice President for Facilities Dave Riker accept the APPA Award for Excellence.

(July 14, 2016) -- The University of Texas at San Antonio has received the 2016 Association of Physical Plant Administrators (APPA): Leadership in Educational Facilities Award for Excellence. It's the nation's highest honor for a higher education facilities management organization.

The award highlights the essential role of facilities operations in a university's overall institutional mission and vision. Award for Excellence nominations are evaluated in leadership, strategic and operational planning, customer focus, information and analysis, development and management of human resources, process management, and performance results.

"It is like winning the national championship in facilities management," said Dave Riker, associate vice president for facilities. "We have an incredible team of leadership, managers, supervisors and employees. UTSA Facilities is about excellence and improving every person and every job, every day. This is another positive step for the institution in its quest to become a Tier One institution."

UTSA is the first University of Texas System institution and one of only three institutions in the state of Texas ever to receive the award. Leading the complete transformation of campus facilities and infrastructure and helping create a modern, dynamic university set UTSA Facilities above the rest.

"While the APPA award recognizes the exceptional work of the facilities team, it likewise speaks to a commitment to excellence by everyone at UTSA by providing the very best education, classrooms and laboratory facilities for our students," said Kathy Funk-Baxter, UTSA vice president of Business Affairs.

Members of the Office of Facilities accepted the award on July 13 at the 2016 APPA National Conference Awards Banquet in Nashville, Tennessee.

- Courtney Clevenger
Assistant Director of University Communications

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APPA: Leadership in Educational Facilities promotes leadership in educational facilities for professionals seeking to build their careers, transform their institutions, and elevate the value and recognition of facilities in education. APPA is the association of choice for more than 15,000 educational facilities professionals from 1,300 educational institutions throughout North America. APPA is an ANSI-Accredited Standards Developer.

Learn more about APPA.

Learn more about UTSA Office of Facilities.

Learn more about UTSA's Master Plan.

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