FM's annual Year in Review Report is now live! Read the 2025 Year in Review to learn about FM's accomplishments and milestones from 2025, and how FM planning for continued success in 2026.

The University of Iowa and ENGIE, Iowa’s utility operator, will begin work on March 2 to bring the new, larger water tower into service. Located in Parking Lot 75 northwest of the football practice fields, the new tower replaces the existing one on Hawkins Drive on the UI Health Care university campus. The tower provides a significant increase in water storage capacity to meet campus and health care needs, improving reliability, and supporting the university’s broader 10-year facilities plan.

Security Engineering Services (SES) is transitioning to an automated process for campus key requests. This update uses the university’s existing workflow system and is designed to enhance security, improve efficiency, and create a better user experience for the campus community. Read the full article from Campus Safety to learn more.

A rare 125-year-old American chestnut on the University of Iowa’s Oakdale Campus is cared for by arborist Andy Dahl and FM Landscape Services, draws visitors from across the Midwest, and supports national research on restoring the species.

Farrukh Bashir has been named associate vice president and director of University of Iowa Facilities Management. Bashir succeeds Lynne Finn, who will retire after a decade of service to the university. Bashir, assistant director of Facilities Management at the University of Minnesota, will begin on Feb. 2.

The Office of Sustainability and the Environment, in collaboration with Landscape Services and Athletic Grounds, is launching an Organic Turf Pilot Project to transition select campus sites from conventional turf care to organic management. Guided by a leading natural-turf consultant, the project will study soil health, microbial activity, and sustainable land-care practices. They are seeking a faculty mentor and a student researcher to support hands-on research, field experimentation, and documentation of the turf transition.

If you’re out for a stroll on the Lower Finkbine trail, you may be sharing the space with some friendly four-legged landscapers. Starting earlier this week, a herd of goats has been hard at work supporting the native prairie ecosystems along the path. Landscape Services is working with Go At It Land Stewardship, a goat-powered targeting grazing business owned by Tamra and Ryan Elliott to restore three native prairie plots near Finkbine Golf Course. 

Join Senior Vice President and University Architect Rod Lehnertz for a virtual tour of the University of Iowa’s most iconic buildings. From the historic Old Capitol and Pentacrest to cutting-edge facilities like the Stanley Museum of Art and the Visual Arts Building, this guided journey highlights the evolution of campus design, the stories behind its most beloved landmarks, and shows how tradition and innovation shape the university’s skyline – past, present, and future.

Plans are underway to expand and transform the Tippie College of Business, adding 65,000 square feet and modernizing Gilmore Hall for the college’s use. Read more about the plans for the expansion project, as well as how the changes will benefit UI students, alumni, and the state of Iowa.

Fall temperatures have arrived and leaves are falling right on cue. It is a beautiful time of year on campus and at home, but the changing of the seasons also means a change to household chores. Rakes, and eventually shovels, are waiting in the garage, but that doesn’t mean you should put away the lawn mower just yet. Andy Dahl, an urban forestry supervisor and campus arborist in the University of Iowa’s Office of Sustainability and the Environment, explains that there is more than one way to clear your lawn of fallen leaves.