President's Message

Good Day TAPPA Members!

I hope your summer is going well and you had a good 4th of July holiday and weekend. Honestly, it is hard to believe it is already July and the Fall start up is right around the corner. Even though summers are a good time of reflection for the prior year, they tend to also be busy with the maintenance, projects, or other needs not able to be attended to during the regular school year. I wish you all the best getting everything complete and ready on time!

I want to thank all of the institutional members, sponsors, and industry partners that participated with the conference this past April in Galveston! We had over 400 attendees, 71 sponsors, 69 exhibitors and 41 schools in attendance. What a great event, and thank you to our conference host, Galveston College. We appreciate the hospitality of President Dr. Myles Shelton for his willingness to allow Galveston College to be the host and the dedication of their team in support of the conference. Next, I would like to recognize Dr. Van Patterson, Vice President for Administration, and Tracy Morgan, the Director of Facilities, for their efforts put forth in assisting to make this conference such a success! Thank you all for your commitment in the provision of resources for facility leaders and team members across the state to be better equipped for the opportunities and challenges of tomorrow in higher education.

Congratulations to all the award winners and especially Scott Wright and the Dallas College team for your selection of the “Stars Across Texas Award”! This is not an easy award to qualify for and shows the commitment and dedication of Scott and his team in providing superior facility support for education within Dallas College and its multiple campuses. If you were not aware, Scott is also the incoming Vice President for TAPPA and Conference Chair. We are excited to have him on the Board and look forward to the exciting times ahead.

In conjunction with the conference on Thursday, April 17th, there was a tour of Galveston College and the Texas A&M University at Galveston campus. We received several positive comments from the tours which proved to be very insightful and rewarding. Thank you, Grant Shallenberger, Associate Vice President for Administration and Auxiliary Services, with Texas A&M for all of your assistance in making this afternoon a success. We look forward to seeing you all at future TAPPA conferences.

More recently, TAPPA in conjunction with the Texas Association of Healthcare Facilities Management (TAFHM) hosted a Regional Roundup on the West Texas A&M campus in Canyon Texas. I want to thank Brent Rutherford, the Director of Facilities for Texas Health and Region 1 Director of TAHFM for all of their support in making these events such a success. This is the second year we have co-hosted Regional Round Ups with TAHFM and both events have been very successful. This year’s event focused on HVAC coil technology, air filtration and the latest in flooring designs. We had over 40 attendees, 6 institutions, 6 vendors and 3 sponsors in attendance. Thank you, Door Specialties, DH Pace and Filtration Concepts, for your support and sponsorship. Without great partners such as TAHFM, area campuses and the sponsors for these events we would not be able to offer educational opportunities throughout the year.

I want to encourage all of the current and future members to watch your email for the final date and location of the next annual TAPPA Conference. The Board, along with our partners at CMP are hard at work finalizing the details and should have this information available soon. In the interim, Peter Palacios, with UNT the chair of the education committee sent out a few questions on the ListServ seeking feedback and input for the next conference and what you, as a member would like to see in regard to educational opportunities and a possible theme. We appreciate all of your feedback and assistance as we continue to strive to be a source in education and connectivity for anyone involved in facilities and our business partners within the state of Texas.

We also want to encourage you to consider being a member of a subcommittee going into this next school year. We have several committees in the areas of education, marketing and communications which include social media, bylaws, membership and the conference committee. Please let us know if you have an interest in being a part of the great things happening within TAPPA to make Texas a better place for facilities and facility related activities.

If you were not able to attend the conference but would like to continue receiving emails or have not been added to the ListServ, please visit the website at TAPPA.NET or email us at info@tappa.net. We have several upcoming educational activities and want to make sure you stay informed and engaged as we continue to provide development opportunities for our members within the state. The TAPPA board wishes each of you the best as you round out your summer and get ready to open your campuses for this next school year.

Sean Childers
TAPPA President &
Associate Vice President of Operations, Texas Tech University