08/28/2015

Update No. 19:

The team leads met on August 25 for an update on the new offices in Knoxville, and this note summarizes progress with the project. In brief, the renovation of the offices at 1610 University Avenue in Knoxville are well
underway and the teams are shifting from planning to preparation for the move.

The contractors are working on the facility, and last week Dr. Byrd, Judie and I stopped by briefly to see the progress. The carpet and tile have been removed and the new walls are going up.

The move will be accomplished in stages. Building completion is presently scheduled for October 26 and we hope to receive the certificate of occupancy (CO) by November 11. Between these 2 dates we will have
another opportunity for staff to tour the offices and to take measurements. We will also move files, cubicles, the MTAS mobile shelving unit, and the furniture and materials that we will not need on a short term
basis to do our jobs. If we receive the CO by November 11 we will start to move people, computers and desks into the building the following week. To minimize disruption the present plan calls for the 2 ^nd floor offices
to move during the week of November 16 and the 1 ^st floor offices to start moving on November 23.

We will need some new furniture, including furniture for the break, conference and training rooms, and the training staff has been working with the Planning Team to select and order training room tables and chairs. We
have also requested 2 vending machines equipped to accept credit cards on each of the floors, and at least 1 drinking fountain in the building capable of filling drinking bottles with filtered water.

Dr. Byrd, Judie and I have also met with the parking staff for the Knoxville campus to discuss how we can provide parking for staff, customers and members of at least 2 of the nearby churches. In summary:

· Over the next year the campus will be considering whether to offer a different rate for this and other off-campus offices, but for the present staff parking will be available at the current monthly rate of $30. This will be a savings for anyone presently parking in the Locust Street garage. For those with a hang-tag the orange dot system will allow parking in other campus staff lots. Having a hang-tag also allows us to leave our personal vehicles on campus during overnight travel. Fleet Services is continuing to consider establishing a storage area for personal vehicles left overnight due to travel.

· At this time we will not have to pay for parking for customers coming to the facility for training and other classes, but visitors and customers will need a printed parking pass. During the planning sessions we discussed finding a way to provide a UT parking pass as an attachment to registration through the Training Partner system. The training staff is working on this, and the parking staff at UT Knoxville will assist with a design. Parking passes may also be available at the front desk for customers and visitors.

· We are also working with the nearby churches to allow church parking in the UT parking lot after hours and during special church events. We will need access to the church parking lots and are working on reciprocal arrangements. Instead of parking passes we will ask that the churches let us know of special events, and we will notify UTPD and Parking Services that we will be accommodating participants.

· The other building purchased by the university will be occupied by staff with the UT Foundation, and has very little parking available. The Foundation staff at 1525 University Avenue will therefore share the parking lot at 1610 with us.

The Foundation shares office space with us at 1610 University Avenue, and the 2^nd floor Foundation offices are also under construction. We will share copiers, break and all meeting rooms with the Foundation, and the Foundation is in turn sharing the expenses.

We are also moving forward with the neighborhood engagement plan. We are meeting with businesses, associations and churches to see how IPS can be a good neighbor in the Mechanicsville area. We are also starting to plan for an open house for the UT community in the fall or early winter and a community open house in the spring of 2016. Nancy Gibson, Frances Adams-O’Brien and Susan Robertson have initially volunteered to help bring the UT open house together, and Kim Raia, Nancy Gibson and Scott Gordy have volunteered to develop the community open house. You will receive more information on this as we recruit volunteers with these efforts, but if you have want to participate please let one of these volunteers know of your interest.

The planning teams have taken and will be taking the following steps over the next few weeks:

Business Team
o Gail will be tracking receipts and expenses for the move, and has reminded the teams of the need to track all charges that we incur. Gail and the team have also estimated expenses and how best to distribute these across IPS and with the Foundation.
o The Business Team will also be involved in the possibility of considering, now or later, a business plan for renting out meeting space after hours and on weekends in keeping (not in competition) with the present facilities at the conference center.

IT Team
o The IT Team is keeping up with the purchase and installation of electronics and data installations, including the electronic displays, screens and projectors.
o OIT will be moving our existing telephones to the new building.
o The fiber optic and other lines are in process, and network connectivity should be complete at about the same time as the move.
o The new security cameras and system are under development with the campus, and the present plan calls for a web interface to allow remote monitoring of the parking lot.
o The IPS IT staff will be directing the move or the desktops and computer equipment, and will distribute packing information closer to the move.

Library Team
o The Library Team is involved with moving the mobile shelving unit through a contractor and preparing the library collection and artwork for the move.
o The library area also includes a sponsored seating and study area, and the team is responsible for designing and having this seating area installed.

Logistics Team
Teresa Hegarty, the project manager and a staff architect on the building project for UT, has been working with the Logistics Team to move and store furniture and to line up UT’s rapid response team for the move. The Logistics Team is:
o Estimating and obtaining boxes for files.
o Developing a tentative date for offices to pack up and prepare for the move.
o Communicating the details of the move and making the move as smooth as possible.
o Making sure that the building is cleaned after construction and the furniture moves but before we move in.
o Identifying appliances and coffee machines. We are also working to identify potential sponsors for coffee machines and coffee throughout the building (coffee bar, 2 break rooms, possibly conference room).
o The Team is also working with the campus to resolve mail service and logistics.

Planning Team
Most of the work of the Planning Team was completed before construction started, but the team remains involved in at least the following:
o Purchasing furniture for the training rooms and break rooms, with delivery to be timed with the move.
o Replacing broken blinds to match the ones now in the building.
o Identifying and obtaining the ice machine.

The members of the project planning teams include the following, and please do contact me or the members of the teams if you have questions or need further information:

	Team Lead			Team Assignments
Planning	Rick Whitehead	Susan Robertson	Stephanie Allen	Renovations/space assignment
		Steve Thompson	Macel Ely	Painting/carpet
		Beth Phillips	Doug Brown	Furniture
		Jill Marling
Logistics	Judie Martin	Walter Idol	P. J. Snodgrass	Parking/signage
		Nancy Gibson	Brett Ward	Mail/ID cards
		Lori Barton		Packing/Moving
Business office	Gail White	Thaddeus Grace	Sherri Brown	Files
		Dale Wolfe
IT	Scott Gordy	N/A	Justin O'Hara	IT, telephones, equipment, security
Library	Frances Adams-O'Brien	N/A	Becky Smeltzer	MTAS library relocation

Thank you for your service to the university and the state of Tennessee, and I do look forward to a successful move.

Steve

Steven T. Thompson
Assistant Vice President
UT Institute for Public Service
105 Student Services Bldg.
Knoxville, TN 37996-0213
865-974-9609 Telephone
239-963-6738 Cell

www.ips.tennessee.edu