An email was sent out on Feb 10. to all of Simpson announcing Simpson’s decision to change facility management partners from Southeast Service Corporation (SSC) to Jones, Lang and LaSalle (JLL). 

Because of the growing concerns by faculty, staff and students regarding the maintenance of facilities on campus, Simpson believes this partnership will improve Simpson facilities for the long term. 

“Anytime we have an opportunity to enhance our operations, we are always going to pursue that if it’s in the best interest of our campus community… especially as it relates to our students,” Megan Shultz, Director of Presidential Initiatives who was involved in the transition process, said.

This partnership began with somebody speaking up. 

“An administrator at Simpson, we won’t say who it is, reached out to JLL and asked what some of our solutions would be if we were to come on to Simpson,” Eric Conrad, Vice President for JLL Public Institutions, said. “Then we provided a bid and the scope of our work, and they liked what they saw.”

JLL will begin their contract with Simpson on April 14, 2022. Brian Schultes, a Simpson alum, will lead facility management at Simpson under JLL. The facilities management team that will report to Schultes consist of a grounds manager, maintenance manager, custodial manager and two facility coordinators that manage work orders, purchasing and accounting.

Schultes boasts more than 20 years of experience in facilities management and has worked previously for Simpson as a painter. In order to provide the best facilities management possible, Schultes said he wants to create great relationships on campus and listen to the people who use the facilities. 

“I always like to work with Residence Life and create a student advisory council or a student round table group focused on facilities and get involved with the student sustainability organization,” Schultes said. “I like to have weekly leadership meetings with the housekeeping grounds, maintenance manager and facility coordinator to talk about the issues that are important on campus and managing those issues to provide the most comfortable and safest possible environment.”

According to Conrad, it will take approximately 60 to 90 days for JLL to get all of its systems up and running on campus. All of the systems will be replaced before the start of the fall semester. 

Some of the initial changes that JLL will implement include a new work-order management system called Corrigo, an energy management solution, a purchasing system called Marketplace and a new safety program. Schultes said he is especially excited for Corrigo. 

“This work order system is really crucial in order to collect data so that we can understand how the team members are spending their time and where the school’s labor dollars are going,” Schultes said. 

According to Conrad, Corrigo will make calling in work orders and managing them more efficient. Simpson and JLL plan to have a central person in every building that is responsible for putting in work orders through Corrigo. 

“We’re here to make the Simpson student experience better, and the student experience interacts with facilities, ” Conrad said. “How are the gyms maintained? How is the air quality in the buildings? How does everything look? So that is essentially our end goal, and if it’s good for JLL, it’s good for Simpson. The contract is set up to be a partnership.”