Degree Name

Education Specialist (EdS)

Semester of Degree Completion

1981

Thesis Director

Gerhard C. Matzner

Abstract

This study was written with the hope that it would be useful to both novice and experienced administrators. Both can use the experience and knowledge obtained from this study about another district's building and renovation project. Covered in a short and brief manner are the many facets of a building and renovation project that took place in the 1980-81 school year. This project took place in Tower Hill, Illinois, a small, rural community in south central Illinois. The cost of the project was approximately $750,000. It involved the building of a new gymnasium and the renovation of the old gymnasium into three classrooms, a vocational agriculture shop, and a learning resource library. The many facets of such a project in the complexity of the modern world along with the rapidity of change makes the administration of such projects a never ending job.

Preliminary planning is the first major area that was addressed in this study. This areas includes: ideas about the number of meetings the administrator must attend, the different types of citizen groups with which one must work, organize, and lead in any such project. This section is one of the most important sections of the study. If the administration does not have the involvement from all levels of the community, it is doubtful if any type of project can ever be successful.

The next area addressed in the paper is the many different surveys needed in a project. These surveys include examples of the surveying techniques used at Tower Hill to assess the need for a building and renovation project. Examples of the facility survey, the projected student population survey, and a survey to determine the number of classrooms open by period are all included in the appendices of this study. Two overriding ideas emerged from the different surveys used at Tower Hill. The first idea was that new and renovated facilities must not only meet the present needs but the needs of the twenty-first century. The second idea was that compromise is an essential ingredient in any public project.

This study also includes a review of ideas and procedures for selecting and using the people involved in a building project. These people will include the architect, the bond agent, and the general contractor. Other areas that are singled out for exposure and information are the referendum, budgeting, and the development of final construction plans for the project.

The final stage of the study presents the many different parts of the construction program with a monthly analysis of the building progress. The reader will find detailed appendices which lend to a more complete understanding of what is involved in a building project.

It is hoped that the administrator will use this study, and many other sources, to emerge as a co-ordinator in the planning process of his school district. By doing this, the administrator will become the agent of change that is needed to move the district toward improvements in the physical and educational environments that effect the children, both now and in the future.

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