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Call FOR NOMINATIONS
The Board of Directors of the Virginia Chapter of the Council of Educational Facility Planners, International (VEFP) will call for nominations for the 2011 Virginia Planner of the Year on September 15, 2010. Nominations will then be open until November 1, 2010. The successful nominee will be announced at the 2011 annual VEFP conference at the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center. The Board will subsequently submit the name of the Virginia Planner of the Year to the Council of Educational Facility Planners, International’s Southeast Region (CEFPI-SE) as Virginia’s nominee for the Thomas Morgan SE Planner of the Year award, if the recipient is also an active member of CEFPI.
Nominations may be made by a VEFP member or other educational-related professional who is actively involved in the design, planning, or management of educational facilities in Virginia. The Board of Directors appoints a committee composed from the general membership of VEFP to review and select the winner from the nominees.
VEFP established the “Virginia Planner of the Year” award to be given annually and the VEFP Board has established the same criteria that CEFPI-SE and CEFPI use in its selection process for the SE and International Planner of the Year awards. The nominee shall be an active member of CEFPI. Once a nomination is made, the VEFP Board will in turn contact the nominee to obtain submittal documents.
CEFPI, Virginia Chapter
Planner of the Year
The annual CEFPI, Virginia Chapter Planner of the Year Award is for educational facility planning excellence and is the highest and most distinguished honor conferred by VEFP. Selection is made by the Planner of the Year Jury. The Planner of the Year Jury consists of the Immediate Past President as the Chairperson, Past VEFP Planners of the Year, plus two members appointed by the Board.
Qualifications of Candidates
- The candidate must be a CEFPI member in good standing.
- The candidate must have been actively engaged in one or more of the professional areas identified in the CEFPI Bylaws as being essential to qualify for Council membership (See below, Article V, Section 5.2).
- The activities upon which the nomination is based shall have produced a positive and significant regional impact on learning. The candidate's activities judged worthy of recognition must have occurred within five (5) years preceding nomination.
- The candidate must not have previously received the VEFP Planner of the Year Award.
Nomination:
Nominations must be submitted by November 1, 2010. To nominate an individual for Planner of the Year, click here, and fill in and submit the form electronically. The Selection Committee will contact the nominees to obtain the necessary Submittal Materials. The required Submittal Materials are listed below
Submittal Materials:
Nominees will submit
- The nominee's current resume or vita outlining their educational background and professional experience.
- A detailed description of the activity that the individual has been nominated for clearly identifying the nominee's role in the activity.
- A detailed statement on how the candidate's work embodies the values and mission of CEFPI and has advanced the development of effective learning environments.
- Letters of reference from supervisors or clients, attesting to the candidate's professional experience (minimum of five).
- Appendixes including documents pertinent to the nomination that further explain the candidate's role and/or the significance of the activity for which the nomination was made.
Format:
- Materials must be submitted electronically and are limited to 48 pages of material. The length of each section of the submittal package is up to the discretion of the candidate.
- Electronic materials are due to Len Wright at lenwright2@cox.net on or before November 30, 2010.
Presentation:
The presentation of the Planner of the Year Award is made at the CEFPI, Virginia Chapter Annual Conference. Finalists are also recognized.
ARTICLE V - MEMBERSHIP
Section 5.2 Individual Membership.
An individual is eligible for membership in the Council by meeting one of the following classifications:
Clause 1. Individuals who are actively employed by, retired, or staff members of national, regional, state, province and local public and nonpublic educational organizations, agencies, and governmental officials and employees of any country who are involved in planning educational facilities are eligible for membership in the Council.
Clause 2. Actively employed or retired college and university staff members who teach educational facilities courses, direct educational facilities research, direct or conduct educational facilities surveys, render educational facilities consultant services, or are otherwise involved in planning educational facilities, are eligible for membership in the Council.
Clause 3. A person who has been a Council member in good standing for twenty (20) years, has reached sixty (60) years of age, and has retired from facility planning work may become an emeritus member entitled to all of the rights and privileges of the Council for the life of the member. A qualified member may be awarded an emeritus membership upon the recommendation of the Executive Director and a majority vote of the Board of Directors.
Clause 4. Editors of periodicals regularly devoting considerable space to educational facilities problems are eligible for individual membership in the Council.
Clause 5. Honorary membership may be granted at any time at the discretion of the Board of Directors.
Clause 6. Actively employed or retired individual architects, engineers and others who are involved in the planning and designing of educational facilities are eligible for membership in the Council.
Clause 7. Individuals who are employees of or retired from industrial firms that produce goods and services for educational facilities are eligible for membership in the Council.
Clause 8. A person who has served as International President of the Council shall become a lifetime member at the completion of office as Past-president and shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of the Council for the life of the member.
Submit a Nomination
Please start by identifying someone you think may be deserving of this recognition and providing his/her name and other information on the application you can find by clicking on the below link. If you have questions you may contact Len Wright, VEFP Past-President, or Tina Carr, Executive Assistant to the VEFP Board, with the subject “VEFP Planner of the Year 2010.” We look forward to hearing from you about the great talent we have here in Virginia.
Submit a Planner of the Year nomination on-line.
2009 Award Winner Dr. Thomas H. Debolt
Dr. DeBolt is in his fourteenth year as Superintendent of Manassas Park City Schools and prior to this, served as a high school principal for 23 years. In Manassas Park, he is very involved in helping this rapidly growing school system achieve sustained student and school division success. The fact that the Manassas Park City Schools are exemplary in numerous ways is certainly a tribute to Dr. DeBolt’s fourteen years of leadership as Superintendent. Dr. DeBolt and his school division have developed outstanding programs and initiatives in the following areas: vision and planning, student achievement, curriculum/instruction, staff development, technology, school design and construction, fiscal resource enhancement, and school-community relations. Under Dr. DeBolt’s leadership, Manassas Park City Schools has constructed four world-class facilities – Manassas Park High School opened in 1998, Cougar Elementary School opened in 2001, Manassas Park Middle School opened in 2006, and the new Manassas Park Elementary School will open in April 2009. To date, Manassas Park City Schools buildings have received thirteen state and national awards for architectural excellence.
Recently, the Virginia State Board of Education honored MPCS as one of only four school districts of the 134 in Virginia to earn full accreditation for each of its schools. MPCS and also received division-wide accreditation from SACS CASI. MPCS is only one of fourteen school divisions to earn the rare distinction of having each of its schools and the school division achieve AYP under NCLB. The significant improvement of MPCS, and the work of Dr. DeBolt and many others during the last ten years, is the story told by UVA Professor, Dr. Daniel Duke in his recently published book, The Little School System that Could, State University of New York 2008. Beyond Dr. DeBolt’s leadership contribution to his own school division, he has served as a generous contributor to professional organizations, other school divisions and the Department of Education. He is certainly an important contributor for the improvement of education in Virginia.
Read a letter from Dr. DeboltSelection Committee Comments
All four candidates for this year’s Planner of the Year have clearly demonstrated and embodied the values and mission of CEFPI. They have each contributed significantly to the field of educational planning and facility design in Virginia. In selecting the Planner of the Year, the committee considered the entire career of each nominee in regard to their impact on student learning, enhancing learning environments, and the legacy left by their work.
The award recipient excelled in all of these areas and is a true advocate for providing excellence in student learning environments. Through the Planner of the Year’s vision and leadership the entire school division was transformed into a high achieving district with new educational facilities at the high, middle and elementary levels where students and teachers alike want to participate and learn. This complete transformation has provided a new found sense of pride for students and members of the community. This remarkable achievement has become the focus of a recent book entitled The Little School System That Could: Transforming a School District, by Daniel Duke.
It is the committee’s unanimous decision to award this year’s Virginia Planner of the Year Award to Dr. Thomas H. DeBolt, Superintendent of the Manassas Park City Schools.
2009 Planner of the Year Committee Members
Paige Stutz, REFP, Program Administrator, Planning & Development, Chesapeake Public Schools
Douglas D. Westmoreland, AIA, REFP, LEEP AP, Vice-President, Moseley Architects
Vijay Ramnarain, Architectural Consultant, Virginia Department of Education
Hunter Barnes, Architectural Consultant, Virginia Department of Education
AWARD DESCRIPTION
The annual Planner of the Year Award is the highest and most distinguished honor conferred by the VEFP. Selection is made by the Planner of the Year Committee. The Planner of the Year jury consists of the Immediate Past President as the Chairperson, plus one member appointed by each region.
Past Planner of the Year Award Winners
Click here to read about our past Planner of the Year Award winners.
- 2008--Paige Stutz
- 2007--Doug Westmoreland
- 2006--Dr. Glen Earthman
- 2005--Mr. Jim Copeland, AIA, REFP
- 2004--Mr. William T. Brown, III, AIA, REFP, LEED AP
- 2003--Dr. Linda LeMasters