March 10, 2004—Austin Independent School District (AISD), one of the fastest-growing districts in Texas, uses ARCHIBUS/FM, the total infrastructure and facilities management solution employed around the world, to develop and maintain a comprehensive inventory of its space and its usage. As a result, AISD can easily track and report defensible facilities-related information to state and federal authorities. Meanwhile, standardized inspection surveys increase accountability and make the schools safe and comfortable for students, faculty, and staff.
According to AISD, this single source of information helps users accomplish all their facilities needs in a timely manner. “Every day, we make gains in our productivity, from locating equipment to scheduling classroom space and more,” says Curt Shaw, Director of Construction Management at AISD. “The power of organized, consolidated information cannot be overestimated.”
AISD’s main goal was to develop a reliable database that would include accommodation details on its 100+ buildings. By tracking room areas by code in ARCHIBUS/FM, the district can see at a glance the intended use of a classroom (to prevent trying to fit a classroom of teenagers into desks designed for second-graders); a room’s capacity; and how frequently it is used. Information like this helps the district effectively assign classroom space and consolidate as needed.
In addition to these classrooms, AISD has over 600 portable buildings not represented on the school’s original floor plans. With the help of ARCHIBUS/FM Business Partner SDM Enterprises of San Marcos, Texas, AISD uses the ARCHIBUS/FM Space Management application to accurately track how these portable classrooms are used and where they are located.
For example, a special federal grant required that AISD set up two portable buildings as kitchens to accommodate culinary arts classes. The district can now easily generate reports, including AutoCAD drawings of these classroom spaces, which detail its compliance with the grant’s stipulations. These reports can now be generated more quickly, and the district can now post the reports on its intranet to simplify interaction among various departments, including Construction Management, Maintenance, and the schools’ administrative personnel.
AISD has also added enhanced quality control features to its housekeeping and maintenance operations. Standardized inspection surveys, including weighted questions, are loaded onto PDA devices and given to maintenance staff. During their field inspections, staff members use the devices to rate how well the facilities are maintained. These surveys are automatically scored, and results are forwarded to the district’s upper management. In addition to enforcing accountability among maintenance supervisors, the district also uses the survey results to conduct follow-up work and troubleshoot customer concerns. Plus, these results help generate a historical maintenance record that can be sorted and reported on in various ways through ARCHIBUS/FM.
