3.11.1

The institution exercises appropriate control over all its physical resources. (Control of physical resources)

Compliance Judgment

X     In compliance     Partially compliant     Non-compliant

Narrative

Francis Marion University demonstrates proper control over its physical resources through tracking fixed assets and items susceptible to theft, appropriately disposing of surplus property, appropriate risk management and insurance coverages, ongoing maintenance of facilities and grounds, and facilities planning.

Throughout the past 17 years, Francis Marion has undergone a dynamic period of growth. As seen in the Campus Development Summary, the University has consistently updated its physical resources to ensure the campus is sufficient and supportive of the needs of its faculty, staff, and students [1].

Routine Building and Grounds Maintenance

The Facilities Management Department has the greatest day-to-day responsibility for maintaining and protecting the value of the university’s physical assets. Facilities Management, under the direction of the Vice President for Business Affairs, is charged with overseeing building maintenance, custodial services, grounds maintenance, the motor pool, and new construction and renovations.

Grounds Maintenance preserves the state’s investment in trees, shrubbery, and other landscaping. Custodial Services fulfills cleaning and sanitation needs and the subsequent maintenance and preservation of all building interiors. Much of the work of these departments is procedure and schedule driven with allowances made for a variety of extraordinary circumstances including the setup for various campus events.

Building Maintenance maintains the buildings on campus. Routine work orders and preventative maintenance is accomplished through use of the work order system on campus. This system allows anyone who identifies a problem to request maintenance services via a call center or web-based request [2]. Figure 1 below identifies the process of a work order.

Figure 1. Work Order Flow Chart

Building Maintenance also periodically evaluates all campus buildings, including building structures and support systems critical to maintaining the functionality of structures. These evaluations are part of the Facilities Management Preventative Maintenance program to schedule inspections and evaluations of campus buildings. The University utilizes preventative maintenance contracts with outside vendors for some equipment items.

For many campus buildings, Building Maintenance Technicians are assigned as the primary individual/first responder for issues that arise within those buildings. These individuals also report deferred maintenance issues. When physical renovations or repairs are needed, Facilities Management staff members report the severity of the problem, and in conjunction with the appropriate administrators, assign priorities for repair.

Deferred Maintenance and Capital Investment

As requested, the University reports Deferred Maintenance to the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education through the Building Condition Survey & Calculation for E&G Building Maintenance Needs [3]. The last Building Condition Survey (conducted in 2014) noted a total deferred maintenance need of $20.6 million. In the spring of 2017, Facilities Management identified and developed an $8.7 million Five-Year Deferred Maintenance Projects [4] plan to address the most critical of these maintenance needs in the following categories: fiber and cabling, paving, roofing, building renovations, sidewalks, and underground piping. The University submitted a $5 million infrastructure improvement request as part of its Fiscal Year 2017-2018 Agency Budget Request package to the State General Assembly. Though this effort was not funded, the University continues to be cognizant of deferred maintenance needs and vigilant regarding potential funding opportunities through the state. The Five-Year Deferred Maintenance Projects were fully denoted in the Campus Development Master Plan [5].

Francis Marion University complies with the state’s Annual Comprehensive Permanent Improvement requirement for Capital Planning. Section 2-47-55 of the South Carolina Code of Laws [6] requires all state agencies responsible for providing and maintaining physical facilities to submit a Comprehensive Permanent Improvement Plan (CPIP) to the Joint Bond Review Committee and the State Fiscal Accountability Authority (SFAA). The Comprehensive Permanent Improvement Plan must include all of the agency’s permanent improvement projects anticipated and proposed over the next five years beginning with the fiscal year starting July 1 after submission. The plan process provides the committee and the authority with an outline of each agency’s permanent improvement activities for the next five years. Higher education institutions must also submit the Comprehensive Permanent Improvement Plan to the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education in accordance with the statute.

To fulfill its mission, and in accordance with the Facilities Guiding Principles contained in the university’s strategic plan, the University makes ongoing strategic capital investments in academic, student life, athletic, housing, parking, and other plant facilities using an appropriate mix of funding sources including state appropriations, state capital reserves, state institution bonds, internal capital reserves, and to a large degree, generous private grants.

The University summarized the most recent capital priorities in the Campus Development Master Plan, which was approved by the Francis Marion University Board of Trustees in June 2017 [7]. This document served as a continuation of the Facilities Master Plan (2012-2020) that was presented to the Francis Marion University Board of Trustees in 2012. This Campus Development Master Plan reflects the priorities in the 2017-18 Comprehensive Permanent Improvement Plan and the resultant budget request to the South Carolina State General Assembly as well as other capital projects currently underway or that will be progressively addressed in the future. The requests to the General Assembly are as follows:

• $8 million to renovate the Medical & Health Education Classroom Complex
• $2.4 million to construct the Honors Building (in addition to the $700K received in Fiscal Year 2016-17 for this project)
• $23 million to construct the School of Education and School of Business Building

Capital projects for building and permanent improvements must pass a series of reviews and approvals prior to execution. Each project must be approved by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education as well as by the State Engineer’s Office. To change the scope or funding of a project, the institution must first file an A1 form to get approval from the South Carolina State Budget and Control Board [8]. Expenses for capital projects are monitored by the South Carolina State Budget and Control Board through the monthly Statewide Permanent Improvement Reporting System [9].

Property Protection (Theft Prevention, Key Control and Emergency Response Plan)

The Francis Marion University Police Department is responsible for ensuring the safety and security of all persons and property on campus.  This includes, but is not limited to, crime prevention and education, traffic and parking control, criminal investigations, and first response to all emergencies on campus.  Nightly, routine building checks are conducted after hours to ensure the safety and security of all campus buildings.  The Francis Marion University Police Department also maintains the university’s Emergency Preparedness Plan [10] which includes protection of the physical plant in disaster situations. Security of buildings is further maintained through key control processes coordinated by the Facilities Management Office.

Land and Buildings Accountability Control

Francis Marion University maintains accountability control over its land and buildings through the submission of the annual Real Property Report [11] to the South Carolina State Budget and Control Board, Office of General Services. The university’s Facilities Management Office works with the South Carolina State Budget and Control Board to ensure that all land and buildings are appropriately accounted for. The University is responsible for the effective allocation and utilization of campus facilities. Annually through this report, the University reports to the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education the square footage of buildings and their condition. The Commission on Higher Education compiles higher education information relevant to enrollment, graduation rates, scholarships, appropriations, faculty, and facilities online in the annual South Carolina Higher Education Statistical Abstract [12]. This document allows the University to make comparisons to other state institutions and national and state standards and guidelines. For facilities (which begin on page 17 of the document), the University can make peer comparisons regarding:

• Assignable Area by Function (instruction, research, public service, etc.)
• Fall Facility Utilization
• Square Feet by Classification (classroom, lab, office, study, etc.)
• Number of Buildings by Age

Allocation of Campus Space

The use of campus space is coordinated by two offices, the Registrar’s Office, which assigns academic classrooms and laboratories and publishes the course schedule each semester, and the Office of Financial Services which assigns meeting spaces for all other purposes including student organizations, faculty meetings, athletic practices and events, and community cultural events [13].

Fixed Assets

The Francis Marion Administration Division is responsible for property inventory control at Francis Marion University. Inventory control of assets costing $5,000.00 or more is coordinated by the Human Resources Office within the Administration division. These items include movable equipment costing $5,000.00 or more and having a life expectancy of more than one year. Each department head is responsible for properly securing and keeping track of all supplies or equipment assigned to the department, whether included on inventory listings or not.  As requested by the Office of Human Resources, each department will physically verify the presence of or otherwise account for all equipment assigned to the department as reflected on the Inventory Listing [14].

Items Susceptible to Theft

Items designated as susceptible to theft include, but are not limited to, personal computers, laptops, printers, televisions, and miscellaneous items identified by the head of each respective campus department. Because these items (valued from $1,500.00 to $5,000.00) are primarily technology items, the Office of Campus Technology (within the Administration division) maintains the Items Susceptible to Theft listing.  Each department head is responsible for properly securing and keeping track of all supplies or equipment assigned to the department, whether included in an inventory listing or not and regardless of value.  Each department head is to review and determine items to be included in the Items Susceptible to Theft listing and to contact the Office of Campus Technology regarding these items. The department head and/or designated staff member is responsible for the maintenance of the Items Susceptible to Theft listing for the respective department. Annually, the department will be provided the Items Susceptible to Theft listing by the Office of Campus Technology. The department head or designee shall verify status and record identifying numbers or attributes allowing identification.  The department head shall forward the verified listing including all updates to the Office of Campus Technology to be centrally maintained for subsequent review and verification [15].

Surplus Property

Equipment considered “excess or surplus” is staged in the university Warehouse until the equipment is identified as “surplus or trash” as instructed by the South Carolina Department of Administration, Division of State Agencies Support Services – Surplus Property Office [16]. Equipment marked “surplus” will remain in the Warehouse until a State Surplus Office employee picks up the surplus equipment and moves it off campus.  The Director of Facilities Management or his/her designee is responsible for disposal of all items designated as “trash” by the State Surplus Office. Surplus items defined as “trash” will be removed by the warehouse personnel and disposed of appropriately. All scrap metal items are staged in the scrap metal yard, until sufficient metal has been accumulated initiating the need for a sale. The Warehouse Manager, under the approval of the Director of Facilities Management, conducts the sale of all “scrap” metal and is responsible for documenting the proceeds and receipting the proceeds to the appropriate university budget. Documentation of all “scrap metal” sales is recorded and filed in the Warehouse. All “surplus” and “trash” items are considered property of the State of South Carolina and cannot be given to employees [17].

Risk Management and Insurances

Francis Marion University handles risk through participation in state-administered insurance programs, purchase of commercial insurance, and self-retention of certain risks.  Francis Marion participates in a variety of insurance policies (property, auto, general tort liability, medical professional liability) through the South Carolina State Fiscal Accountability Authority Insurance Reserve Fund [18].  The Reserve Fund will pay for direct physical loss of or damage to covered property (building and contents) unless excluded or limited.  Coverage is written on a replacement cost basis with an 80% coinsurance clause.  A standard $1,000 deductible applies to each occurrence ($500 deductible for auto), with optional higher deductibles available.  Coverage is provided on an “all risks” (subject to exclusions) basis to include boiler and machinery, flood, and earthquake.  Because South Carolina has significant hurricane and earthquake exposures, all Insurance Reserve Fund property insurance policies include coverage for wind, flood, and earthquake.  All state-owned vehicles are covered by liability insurance through the Insurance Reserve Fund.  The liability limits for losses are $1,000,000 combined single limit per each accident.

To supplement coverages through the Insurance Reserve Fund, Francis Marion purchases commercial public official dishonesty/crime insurance to cover losses sustained by Francis Marion through any fraudulent act committed by employees or theft of money or securities.  The University also secures public official bond/faithful performance of duty insurance covering the Vice President of Business Affairs.

Documentation

1. Campus Development Summary 2001-2017
2. FMU Website, Building Maintenance
3. Building Condition Survey & Calculation for E&G Building Maintenance Needs
4. Five Year Deferred Maintenance Projects February 2017
5. Campus Development Master Plan 2017
6. SC Code of Laws 2-47-55
7. Board of Trustees Minutes June 22, 2017
8. A1 Form
9. Manual, Chapter 8, p. 41-43
10. FMU Emergency Preparedness Plan 2014
11. Real Property Report
12. South Carolina Higher Education Statistical Abstract
13. FMU Website, Utilization of Facilities
14. FMU Website, Inventory Control
15. FMU Website, Inventory Control
16. SC Department of Administration, Surplus Property Office
17. FMU Website, Inventory Control
18. SC State Fiscal Accountability Authority Insurance Reserve Fund