Tell us why you value your CEFPI membership
What's in it for YOU to be part of CEFPI?
We are living in tough but interesting times...and we have a simple question for you: How highly do you value your CEFPI membership? Give us your frank opinion as we are constantly looking for new opportunities and solutions to help you in your professional development. Tell us why you belong to a large, supportive network of diverse professionals involved in building safe and healthy educational facilities for children everywhere. What's in it for YOU to be part of CEFPI? Give us an honest answer!
CEFPI Membership Value:
* Quality and relevant research and publications;
* Quality and relevant Professional Development @ a variety of levels (Chapter, Region, International, Web, SDSU, etc.).
* A network of professionals with common values, issues, and interests.
Hugh
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I maintain my membership because I support CEFPI's mission even though I am not currently working in the school planning and design field. I appreciate that there is only one level of dues (rather than additional dues at chapter and regional levels). Dues level is reasonable, but value would be greater if there was more research published and if the quality of the journal was improved. I am considering dropping my REFP because I don't see value in it.
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I value my CEFPI membership because it gives me some of the tools I need to help assure that our buildings not only don't interfere with our kids' learning experience, but actually enhance it. It's great to be able to communicate with people who are in the school business, both inside it and outside. School district people, A&E folks, contractors, suppliers, and others are all part of our organization, and that's a great thing.
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As a practising architect and facility planner, I find CEFPI an excellent organization for networking, and finding information on the latest and best educational facility designs. The current focus in CEFPI on educational philosophy is interesting, but this topic is usually expanded or focussed in educational specification and vision workshops for educational projects, which involve a broad cross-section of staff, students, parents & community members that will use the facilities.
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I value my CEFPI membership because CEFPI has provided me with the opportunity to learn from the best planners in the world, at conferences, SDSU and through the research that is distributed to members.
As we move into the increasingly difficult financial problems ahead we will see less support from our public sector employers for this membership expense and membership with need to become more relavent to members as they fund their dues and training costs.
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Sorry - But I have seen nothing but a declining value in this association since my first year. Here's why:
1. The same people are selected for presentations year after year.
2. The same canbe said for regional and state conferences.
3. The majority of members appear to be architects and too few members are school personnel or independent experts.
4. The membership is not growing, but it is greying.
5. Awards are for the architects and the schools, but acknowledgement for the supporting engineers and consultants is not there.
6. The conferences are opportunities taking ideas from others, rather than finding others to collaborate with.
7. As an association I would have expected CEFPI to define or help the membership define what it means from a client and constituency (students, teachers, administration, taxpayer) perspective what is an excellent school product. (When I ask architects what could make their next school project better than the last one, no one can answer or define what "better" means!).
That said, there is a good chance this will be our last year - regardless of the economic climate... but thank you for asking - that has not happened in 7 years.
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Liaison with others in same or similar line of work; information sharing; keep current with new information & developments; access to government / industry updates.
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Over the past years I have seen things change - new information and best practices are being shared from around the world - not just the US; LEED and sustainabilty have been added; how design affects education - from a student's standpoint; how the current economy affects school construction - all good stuff. I would like to see more School District staff, teachers and students involved. Their opprotunity to be involved is often limited by "no travel" policies and I feel this is to our disadvantage.
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I joined CEFPI about a year ago to expand my network and gain a better understanding about the role of facilities in education. Unfortunately I have never really heard from anyone about regional meetings, training etc. Probably won't renew.
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Hi Ernie
I see you're from BC and part of the Pacific North West Region, so I hope you've heard from someone by now. If not, the Australasia Region is always willing to link up with you and provide any help we can.
Best wishes,
Ann Gorey
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I have attended some interesting CEFPI conferences and learnt much at them - I thought San Diego last year had some great sessions.
CEFPI has also brought opportunities to meet and connect with facility planners that I would otherwise have never met, and to experience school facilities that I would otherwise have not seen.
I believe my approach to school facility design has been enhanced by what I have learnt through my CEFPI membership, and hopefully this is improving student learning.
I too would like to see more school personnel participating, but I also understand that for most of them facility design is not a primary focus.
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Great responses so far, so thanks to all for your very honest and insightful comments. Several imperatives have already emerged that CEFPI needs to address.
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I feel a strong affinity with the Australasian region and local chapter, but less so with our USA colleagues. The local chapter events bring together a diverse and relevant group of passionate people. It would be great if the Australasian region could have some more autonomy, for example, more Australian-based publications.
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1. CEFPI Chapter Monthly Meetings and Region Annual Conferences provide an easy way to interact with peers from other school districts on a regular basis.
2. The resources and training available from the web site and high performance symposiums are helpful in keeping up with advances in technology and equipment as well as what other school districts are doing.
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Comment from Mr. Ron Fanning
I value my CEFPI membership very highly. It has been invaluable in networking & developing associations for our organization (Fanning/Howey). It is a valuable resource of information on Educational Facilities from around the world. It is a very necessary advocate for the impact that Physical Facilities have on the learning environment & the ability to learn. I strongly feel that anyone that is serious about providing the best physical environment to learn & teach in must be a member of CEFPI.
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My CEFPI membership is highly valued as it provides me with access to a diverse network of professional colleagues at the local & national level.Potentially CEFPI also provides a strong advocacy voice to government re future policy directions. Whilst to-date I have not taken advantage of CEFPI at the international level , it remains a source of relevant , quality research etc.
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In my opinion, the main benefit of CEFPI is to exchange information and ideas about school construction. It would be easy to operate in a vacuum and not take advantage of new technology and market information. CEFPI is a good forum for information exchange.
Having said that, CEFPI does tend to get focused on what's hot such as LEED and green construction and leave the fundamentals of designing and building quality educational facilities behind.
I support the idea that the membership needs to be more diverse. CEFPI is skewed toward the architectural viewpoint of educational facilities.
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I view my CEFPI membership as a "Value added" to my employment at the Clark County School District because it keeps me in touch with my peers and the professionals in this K-12 industry. It also keeps me current with the latest planning ideas around the nation for the other School Districts. The only issue currently is the economy and a very limited travel and training budget that is used to fund these memberships.
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I have found the depth and breadth of peer networking within CEFPI to be unsurpassed. CEFPI is cross disciplinary. A cursory look at my region tells me we are about half architects and half everyone else, which I see as a very healthy mix. CEFPI has been about "integrated project delivery" since long before the term even existed.
While there is a degree of truth to some of the more negative comments above, I have found that what you get out of any organization is roughly proportional to what you put in.
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Hi Robert -
I definitely agree with the observation of getting what you put into something... but that is precisely what one of my issues is - the same people do the conference sessions at the state, regional, and international conferences. When I have been "lucky" to get a session, it has been a mini-session in a ballroom of people... I attracted 60 people at one of those in 2 sessions on more than one occasion, yet regular sessions appear to be limited to the same people over and over. I am a national speaker at many other educational conferences, yet all of my attempts to people and former exec director at the association office go on deaf ears. So I have given up and cannot buy into the idea that this grop wants new ideas or collaborations. These conferences are expensive propositions, so I will just have to go where the collaborative talk also walks. As a PhD I have to assume that the credentials aren't the limiter - not that this is all there is, but I know what is research based.
That's it for my soapbox. I still give credit for at least someone asking this question and having a blog. It is hard for me to believe that CEFPI's value is so high with all of the members that we don't have a growing membership.
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I cvalue my membership to the extent that it provides oportunities to:
1.) Tour excellent learning environments (AKA walk around good schools and other facilities)
2.) Get to know and exchange ideas with others in this field.
My actual experience over the last 20 years with these two factors has been all across the board. Sometimes excellent, too often mediocre, occasionally dismal.
Thanks for asking.
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CEFPI membership and it's varied programs is a great opportunity for me to interact with professionals with similar interests and it provides for many learning opportunities.
Throughout the past 10 years I've attended local, regional and international conferences as well as other organizations, and I especially enjoy the CEFPI functions. I always come away fulfilled with new knowledge I can use to better the facilities of our school district.
I was very pleased with the San Diego conference to hear the emphasis placed on listening to the students and the sharing of educational techniques used throughout the world.
I especially liked the pre-conference presentations because they were well done and opened my thinking further to new or different ideas.
The breakout sessions held in the display room were unwelcoming, chaotic, inconvenient for listening and plain uncomfortable. A more relaxed atmosphere in a meeting room for each subject would have been better.
I like the networking with presenters, sales reps, members and attendees and hearing their thinking about facilities and education.
Overall, the CEFPI organization is doing a great job.
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I was the director of the School Building Planning Division for the Los Angeles Unified School District when I retired in 1978.I first became a member in 1954 and was active in the development of the Large School District
Group of CEFRI. Participation in CEFPI development activities helped me attain experience required to perform the functions required as the director of one of the largest school district building progams in the nation. So-- as an "old Timer" to you younger members-- Actively supporting CEFPI will repay you many,many times. Thanks, for the emeritus membership for the past 30 years. Harry B. Saunders
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Comment from Jack Connell
I value the exchange of ideas, information, problems, and solutions from the various perspectives that CEFPI membership presents. It is this “exchange” that keeps us all “on game.” I find the exposure to new products and the variety of design solutions to common problems to stimulate innovative thinking and continual improvement of the delivery system for learning.
I would like to learn more about practical energy saving means and methods, BIM (from and owners perspective), and the possibilities, first cost, potential payback, and commitment to “going green.”
I belong because I find this exchange refreshing and renewing as well as you get to meet some of the nicest people. There also remains the possibility of someday needing a network of individuals that could benefit you in terms of information and all sorts of potential resources (even future employment.)
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Practicing in Iowa is an interesting challenge. Education is highly valued, but change is not. We have been able to bring great ideas and products to our clients that has allowed them to expand their frame of reference. We are building better schools because of CEFPI membership. It continues to be valuable to us and to our clients. The research aspects help us to inform them to new possibilities, so we are hopeful that research will continue. We also value the publications.
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I value my CEFPI membership as it has afforded me a great networking opportunity. I have met many folks that have great ideas and insight, and the membership and conferences have allowed me the opportunity to learn from each of them. I value that greatly, as I don't know any other organization where I can get the opportunity to meet so many people with this talent level. The exchange of ideas, whether I agree or not, helps my career and professional development, which in turn, helps me provide better learning environments for our students.
However, in order to get something, I have to invest something. I invest time in CEFPI in order to get more out of my membership. I could see how if I was not involved actively, I may not get as much as I do now.
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I value my CEFPI membership because it brings me in contact with a wide range of people from diverse fields and locations, it links me to professional and commercial people and provides access to new ideas and opportunities to see and learn how innovative educational facilites are planned and provided. I appreciate the willingness of CEFPI members to share their ideas and give their time generously. Ann
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I have been using CEFPI as a key resource base to understand the principles and ramifications that underlie high quality school planning, since the early nineties, when I first commenced undertaking turnkey school planning in India.
With quality education increasingly becoming a national priority in India, large numbers of new schools are mushrooming, in both rural and urban locations, with scant attention to needs-based and responsive education facility planning and design. This impacts the delivery of education in a massively negative manner and I work hard to help establish exemplary schools, from a facility and systems design perspective, in the hope that working examples of good school design will impact other new schools by virtue of the ripple effect.
I look forward to the establishment of a CEFPI chapter in India and am fully prepared to provide the necessary support and leadership to make this happen at the earliest.
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