Every few years, the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority issues bond money to schools and universities to help fund specific projects that these entities would be unable to fund without some financial assistance. Submitting the bond packages to the state requires adherence to guidelines and deadlines, and putting aside all other work until the bonds are complete and uploaded.
“This year was better in some respects,” said Ghislaine Darden, Assistant Vice President of IP&O’s Strategic Services group. “This year, the state automated the process. In years past, we had to have multiple paper copies, electronic copies submitted on thumb drives and CDs, and then the entire package of materials put into three-inch binders, which were then driven to Trenton and submitted. While it was still an arduous task this year, the fact that everything was done online made the task somewhat easier.”
Groups from the Office of Information Technology, University Facilities, and Planning Development, and Design gathered project materials as required by the state, which included diagrams, project descriptions, project justification, testimony to facilities’ stewardship, and much more. A total of 36 projects with multiple pages of information were sent to Darden and her team to review, edit, upload into applications, and proofread multiple times. “I split my group into teams. We literally put aside all other projects for two weeks. Dave (Schulz) needed help with writing narratives for the applications, so I appointed my best writers to help him. Then the material had to be specifically formatted before uploading it into the applications. I appointed a team to do the formatting. That team had a team of people who checked and proofread the formatting, and then it was checked again by another set of eyes before submission.”
Darden held two meetings a day to make sure everyone was on track with their specific job duties. “Many people in my group have never done anything like this before,” Darden said. “I wanted the team to know they had the support they needed, and that they could ask as many questions as needed to complete the process. The two daily check-ins also clarified each person’s roles and responsibilities.”
In the end, the group successfully uploaded 36 projects to the Authority. “I don’t know how many of our projects will be awarded financing because we are vying with other institutions for a limited pot of money,” Darden explained. “I do know, however, that our applications were the best they could be when they were submitted. My team did a great job.”
The project awards will be announced in June.
