Mary Beth Robinson, Associate Professor

This week I had midterm evaluations. I cannot believe that this was week 5! This summer is flying by and I am learning so much. Finally I see what our professors mean when they say “you learn as much as you can while you’re in school then you start your first job as an interior designer and you know nothing”.

Monday I did my midterm View of the 4th floor waiting area in the Cancer Instituteevaluations with Heather and Rebecca. After that we started our busy day. We did a walkthrough of the Cancer Institute. I love how fast things are moving, and Rebecca and I decided it would be a good idea to take a picture of the same spots week to week to show just how quickly things are moving. This project is actually different than most projects because there is a contractor superintendent on every floor, and a few over the entire project. They are doing this in order to finish the project quickly and accurately. After our walkthrough of the Cancer Institute I was happy to find a package at my desk. This box contained the vinyl quotes I worked on a few weeks ago! My first project had arrived and were ready for install. I did inventory of the quotes, making sure each was marked correctly, and that all of them were actually made as we had specified. After that I worked on proofing a 3form order, making sure we had exactly what we needed. Then I went with Rebecca to a meeting concerning all of the casework and millwork in the exam rooms. There we went though each cabinet, drawer, and rack, making sure each had a purpose, and that there was sufficient space with a convenient locations for each item placed in the rooms. I also selected Corian samples for our donation wall in the Cancer Institute.

Tuesda12 East Rennovation: Patient Roomsy Rebecca and I went Boxes of Donationsto the Labor and Delivery waiting area on the Mother-Baby floor of the hospital to specify placement of some artwork, while also bringing samples of flooring up to replace the carpet in the waiting room. After that we went to a walkthrough of UFP and saw that they are working on hanging the artwork. For the rest of the day the office had an official cleaning day. Rebecca and I cleaned out the materials library. We actually accumulated 5 boxes worth of samples ranging from Corian samples to Mannington flooring, to fabrics and cubicle curtains.

Wednesday we finished working on the materials library, and then I began calling places in Knoxville to see if they would like to come take the materials rather than having them end up in a dumpster. We actually found that Knox County schools was willing to come pick up all of the materials we were finished with. For the remainder of the day we had lunch with a Carpet Distributor, then I worked on finding a quote for a class photo of the Graduate School of Medecine.

Thursday I worked on creating a floor pattern for the Labor and Delivery waiting room. We did a walkthrough of the 12 East renovation as well as the main floor Lobby, which is having flooring replaced. Here is a picture of 12 East! Its almost finished! We had lunch with a DesignTex rep. then I worked on putting the floor patterns in Photoshop. I then made a work order and budget sheet for a custom artwork frame.

Friday was a little unView of Downtown STL from the Gateway Archusual. Instead of working with Mary Beth from hoTables at the Wedding Showerme I worked while traveling! I made my way to the airport bright and early before the sun came up and flew into St. Louis for a wedding shower for my cousin! I actually got to go to the top of the Gateway Arch! Here is a picture of my view from the top! The shower went really well (my mom, sister and I threw it for our soon-to-be member of the family). It was great getting to see my family again and I got to celebrate my birthday early with my family! Here is a picture of the table settings from the shower!

This week I interviewed Emmert, who is our purchaser here in the office. I asked him a few questions to get to know him a little better, because he is usually on a much different schedule than I am. He really enjoys working out. He believes that working out regularly helps him live and eat healthier. He also loves music. He actually has over 500 CDs and more than 4 stereo systems in his house.

EmmertIt was appropriate that I interviewed Emmert this week because he is our in-house purchaser. He does all of our purchasing, whether it is for a project or if it is supplies for the office.

Because this facilities planning is different than a firm, we don’t actually have fees. However, in some projects we have labor costs, which is usually included within the budget. The amount of labor cost is determined by the scope of the project. One thing that is important to know about this facility is that is a not-for-profit organization, so we do not profit from any project we do.

A project is cost is estimated by RS Means, and by sending out quotes. If we go over budget we usually weigh our options to see what can be cut, what prices can be negotiated, and what we can ask donors to help with. Usually if we are over budget we can get donors to donate artwork to the project, which helps save a lot of money on a project.