JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE NECESSARY DOESN’T MEAN YOU’RE IMPORTANT

Sommerfeld, an executive consultant, challenges post-secondary institutions’ traditional approaches to facilities management.

Facilities management (FM) lies at the heart of day-to-day operations in colleges and universities nationwide—from fixing burst waterlines and malfunctioning fire alarms to handling emergency situations during power losses and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) outages. But according to the author, FM is often treated as an invisible department, even though it’s responsible for most institutions’ largest assets: their physical campuses. “That invisibility is not neutral,” writes Sommerfeld, who notes that, far too often, FM is only “invited into conversations after commitments have already been made,” tasked with executing “decisions it did not help shape” and expected to “manage risks it did not create.” In this handbook for FM professionals and college administrators, the author effectively calls for a shift in the relationship between FM and traditional power structures. Sommerfeld emphasizes that doing so requires a psychological shift as well as organizational restructuring that gives FM greater agency. The author draws on research involving cognitive and behavioral science, for instance, when describing a change in mindset that treats FM personnel not as voiceless and interchangeable, but as a valuable “living human system shaped by relationships, incentives, and feedback loops.” The book clearly asserts that healthy institutional systems don’t simply rely on FM to clean up disasters after the fact, instead providing resources that allow such departments to prepare for all contingencies. Although his book’s primary audience is niche, Sommerfeld makes an effective case for the importance of facilities management across higher education, from public and private institutions to community colleges and major research universities. The work also serves as an important reminder of FM’s role in achieving an institution’s goals, and the need for greater inclusivity in campuswide decision-making.

A well-researched, convincingly argued case for rethinking conventional attitudes toward a key department.