The questions universities should ask when evaluating FM proposals
Once the evaluation process starts, the question I wish more clients asked is this: What does your number actually mean, and what isn't included?
There's a natural pull toward the lowest proposal. I understand it; I had that instinct myself when I was a client. But every provider prices differently, and the real differences live in the exclusions: staffing model assumptions, self-performed versus subcontracted work, capital responsibilities, deferred maintenance impacts and service-level expectations. What looks like savings at signing can become a very different story once you're operating under the contract.
The best question a prospect can ask is not "Why are you cheaper?" It's "Help me understand exactly what I'm buying — and what I'm not buying."
The difference between an FM vendor and a true campus partner
Here's what I've learned from being on both sides: The difference between a vendor and a partner doesn't live in the contract. It lives in what happens when things get hard.
I recently had a candid conversation with a college president about past-due bills and payment cycles. I told her honestly what I needed from her team so that we could give her institution the flexibility and grace it needed during a difficult stretch. That kind of conversation only happens when there's genuine trust, when the client knows you're looking out for their institution, not just your own P&L.
I empower my teams to make business decisions that put the client's success ahead of short-term thinking. When our clients know we're thinking about student success and institutional outcomes, not just ones and zeros, the relationship changes. We stop being a vendor and start being a partner.
How does campus facilities management support student success?
At Pfeiffer University, the 2026 student valedictorian used her commencement speech to recognize two people who shaped her college experience: Greg, who works in maintenance, and Alan, from the dining hall. Greg was there every morning, mopping floors before 8 a.m. with, as the student put it, the biggest, brightest smile on his face, always willing to stop and talk. Alan, through small daily conversations, taught her to find joy and gratitude, and the importance of showing up and working hard even when no one is watching. Neither holds a title most people would call influential. But as the student told that auditorium: "Leadership isn't about a position. It's about how you treat people."
That's what we're actually doing here. Not maintaining buildings but maintaining the conditions for a student's life to unfold the way it's supposed to.
When I was on the client side, I used to take my office to the cafeteria for three hours a day, just to be where students were, to watch how they used space, to understand what they actually needed from the environment around them. My role is more strategic now and spans multiple campuses, but I'm still trying to protect that connection between the people doing the work and the students whose experience depends on it.
FM is often invisible until something goes wrong. But when it's working, really working, it's what makes everything else on a campus possible.
If you're a university leader evaluating your FM options, here's what I'd want you to take away: The right partner isn't the one with the lowest number. It's the one who understands what you're trying to accomplish and will still be standing next to you when things get difficult.
I've been that client. Now I'm working every day to be that partner.
