Dear Colleagues, Welcome to 2024. On behalf of the Board and Executive, I trust you had a well-earned break and have returned refreshed for what will no doubt be another busy year for us all.
In early January, we heard the very sad news that Maurie Pawsey AOM, aged 95, passed peacefully in his sleep on Saturday 30 December 2023 in his hometown of Alexandra, surrounded by his loving family. Many of you will know that TEFMA’s premier award is named after Maurie, who was one of the founders of what we now know as TEFMA, and served as its inaugural President.
Maurie worked at the University of Melbourne between 1964-1990, having received the University’s Gold Medal Award for his work on the 1970 master plan and an award for his outstanding achievements during his career at the University of Melbourne. In 1972, Maurie became the first head of what was then Property & Buildings. Maurie implemented the Energy Management Program (called Kill-a-watt) in 1979 and in 1985 he worked with the Australian Vice Chancellors Committee to determine the threshold maintenance spend of 1-1.5% ARV that we still reference today as being the standard for good maintenance practice. Maurie was also instrumental in setting up Unimutual and he built the first computer lab at the University of Melbourne in the Thomas Cherry Building. TEFMA sent flowers on behalf of all TEFMA members to Maurie’s funeral held in Alexandra on the 8th January 2024. Vale Maurie Pawsey, OAM.
TEFMA 2022 Benchmark Insights Webinar – Monday 26 February 2024 TEFMA’s Education Services Committee has scheduled a webinar to provide the highlights of the 2022 TEFMA Benchmark Insights Publication. Johanna Trickett from ARUP will present the webinar, which I am sure will be as popular as last year’s presentation. If you missed the December newsletter, the TEFMA 2022 Benchmark Insights Report can be found here, which gives insight into what the webinar will cover. You can register for the webinar here. As at early February, we have 176 registrations!
Things to look out for in 2024!
- TEFMA will again be holding the Directors Forum in June in Adelaide. This is a strategic one-day session aimed at Chief Property Officers, Executive Directors, Directors, Associate Directors and Senior Managers responsible for the stewardship of institutional property portfolios. The 2024 Directors Forum, tentatively scheduled for 17 June 2024, will be held in conjunction with the Strategic Data 18 and 19 June 2024 Workshop, so keep an eye out on the TEFMA website for further details.
- Scholarships and Awards. While the 2024 round of Awards and Scholarships nominations do not open until late March 2024, we have updated the Awards and Scholarships webpages and encourage you to have a look at what is on offer. This is a great opportunity to recognise colleagues that have achieved fantastic things.
- TEFMA24 Conference - 15-18 September 2024. Planning is well underway on this year’s Conference in Auckland, Aotearoa / New Zealand. The Local Organising Committee have convened and are co-ordinating a fantastic conference for you. Further details can be found on the official Conference website here.
- If you wanted to find out how UK institutions manage their asset portfolios, check the recent post in the TEFMA Community portal. Joining AUDE will allow you to access a wealth of topical information in managing large and complex higher education property portfolios.
I would also like to welcome our newest Business Partners, Ascot Group and Honeywell, who joined us in January and February respectively this year. You can learn more about Ascot Group here and Honeywell here. Also, a big thank you to our existing Business Partners for the continued support - you are crucial in bringing relevant services to the TEFMA membership.
Can I also remind all members to take the time to jump online and view the TEFMA Community portal with the aim to foster a culture of collaboration through sharing and engaging with the resources available in the library. The information is intended to generate discussion, build relationships with peers and learn from one another. I am encouraged by the level of collaboration to date and it is a great resource, particularly for new members to the sector, to engage and assist with the daily life of practitioners responsible for all matters property, estate and facilities management related.
Lastly, our Secretariat will be emailing all Institutional Members a spreadsheet with names of members currently held in our database, with instructions on how to update member listings to ensure accuracy in our systems. We appreciate all assistance in this regard. |