Cuyahoga Community College Completes Classroom Upgrades During Winter Break

Challenge: New Tech with a Tight Timeline

Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) recognized an opportunity to make classroom upgrades over the short winter break between the Fall and Spring semesters. The goal was to replace existing touch screen displays with new and improved models. The new touch screen display systems would improve teachers’ workstations by providing better functionality and serve students’ daily learning by creating a more interactive classroom experience. If the installation went smoothly and the touch screens proved successful in improving students’ experiences, Tri-C would move forward with a second, larger round of installations, bringing added pressure for the project to be completed on time and within budget.

Solution: A Modern Procurement Method for Modern Classrooms

With a tight timeline, any issues that would arise during the classroom upgrades would need to be handled quickly. Tri-C turned to their ezIQC® program through Sourcewell. ezIQC is a shared contract with preset pricing that allows facility owners to access construction services at affordable rates through group purchasing. Through ezIQC, Tri-C worked with Foti Contracting to finalize the Scope of Work.

The project scope was unique, as Tri-C purchased all the equipment to be installed, but needed Foti to receive, store, deliver and install the equipment and install the wiring required to support the touch screens and then patch walls around the screens. Tri-C provided cut sheets for the equipment and simple line diagrams for cabling requirements. The contractor was then able to produce pricing based on the line items in Tri-C’s ezIQC program. Continuous coordination between the contractor and college’s IT personnel was instrumental as the project progressed.

Result: Taking Classroom Upgrades to the Next Level

Thanks to close coordination between Tri-C and the contractor, the classroom upgrades were completed in less than a month, well before students and teachers returned from winter break. After seeing how smoothly the project moved from initiation to completion, Tri-C decided to move forward with a larger project to install touch screen displays in 300 additional classrooms. They have continued to partner with Foti Contracting for the new leg of installations and have decided to make ezIQC part of their maintenance and renovation solutions moving forward.

For their excellence in the use of Job Order Contracting and close collaboration with the contracting team, Tri-C was awarded the 2019 Harry H. Mellon Award of Merit in Job Order Contracting.