Maintenance and Utilities Director honoured by peers

By Dale Johnson Posted: June 13, 2017 6:00 a.m.

Emmet Boyle is receiving the APPA Pacesetter Award for holding various positions in the organization. Photo: U of R Photography

The Director of Maintenance and Utilities at the University of Regina, Emmet Boyle, is being honoured by an international organization that promotes leadership among facilities managers in educational institutions.

Boyle is receiving the APPA 2017 Pacesetter Award. The APPA, previously known as the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, is based in the Washington, D.C., area and has 12,000 members in 1,300 educational institutions.

The Maintenance and Utilities Department that Boyle oversees is responsible for the repair and maintenance of campus facilities and infrastructure. There are more than 40 journey level tradespeople and apprentices in the department, and they handle everything from routine maintenance to campus emergencies.

The APPA says Boyle is being recognized because he has served on various executive positions in the organization.

“I was nominated by fellow APPA members. I'm the Past President of the Rocky Mountain APPA region and now sit on the APPA executive board as Chair of the Regional Representatives,” Boyle says.

“I'm also involved in developing the next generation of facilities professionals through on-line interactive seminars for Certified Educational Facilities Professional candidates,” he adds.

Boyle says he was surprised when he found out the APPA was honouring him, because he says there are so many others doing remarkable things in the organization.

Boyle will be officially honoured by the APPA at the awards reception at the annual conference in San Francisco in July.

“I always get a kick when I speak with colleagues from large U. S. institutions and they know about the U of R,” he says.

Last year, the APPA honoured U of R Vice-President (Administration) Dave Button.