Styling Your Furniture Strategy on Campus

Attracting students while walking the budget tightrope is a true balancing act. As a University Adjunct Professor and vendor to the same University, I know that very well.  Providing storage, a workspace, seating, and most importantly somewhere to sleep, doesn't have to be an exercise in compromise for university or college facilities managers and buying teams.

Furniture replacement is an opportunity to fully develop your strategy for attracting and retaining students. The most successful plans are, at some point, evaluated from the viewpoint of the student. Here are some simple, cost effective ways to get your residence halls to stand out.

1.  Gadgets-Your students have tons of them. Give them somewhere to plug-in.

2.  Cushion-A soft seat goes a long way. If their room isn't comfortable, they'll look for one that is.

3.  Denim-Consider providing at least one or two deep drawers. Jeans can take up a lot of precious storage space.

4.  Color-Express your campus's personality with color. Fabrics and wood finishes can ooze personality and good vibes.

Things that make their life easier, more comfortable, and let's not forget fun, don't have to be complicated or expensive.

For more on how GET, LLC through our friends at Savoy Contract Furniture and teaming partner American Hotel Register can assist you with your specific furniture needs- please check out our website at www.get-guam.com or give us a call at 671-483-0789 to discuss the best solution for your facility.  All the solutions are Made in America!!!

Guam-A Different Perspective

During his investiture speech at the University of Guam on May 21, 2008, Dr. Robert Underwood said, "A university’s commitment to the process of education must be founded on the desire to find the truth and searchfor justice. When universities think of education in terms of truth andjustice, then all else follows." 

If you been anywhere near the Mangilao Campus recently, you will find a place with students eager to learn.  It was the "natural choice" for them to choose UOG to pursue a college degree. While you would think  many of them are just from Guam, you would be pleasantly surprised to learn that the students are from all over the region and some from locations in North America and Asia.  Each one goes to class each day focused on getting homework done, preparing for a presentation and researching the stacks at the library to finish that assigned paper on a myriad of topics from art to nursing.  It has been a sight to see the "desire" that Dr. Underwood wrote about five years ago. 

Introspection and discernment are in fact being taught by the great faculty at the Western Pacific's premier institution of higher learning.  The challenge to seek justice is not a cliché for the students, but an attitude missing among many of those of Generation Y.  What I have experienced first-hand from Generation Y is the "why?" . 

Generation Y is asking the hard questions, pushing everyone else to pay attention and either help answer them or they will seek out those answers themselves.  We must pay attention:     New research on Generation Y reveals that almost 70 per cent would buy a market leading brand if friends and family were using it, making them major influencers on purchase behavior. A survey by Incite revealed that 61 per cent said recommendations from peers are very important when deciding to buy a product or service and 23 per cent would trust the opinion of others on purchase decisions compared to 15 per cent who would primarily trust their own decisions. In 2009, Deloitte and Touche reported that Generation Y are a confident empowered generation with a sense of self-worth and responsibility all thanks to their computer literacy and tech savvy.  Even the Vatican, on the heels of selecting a new Pope, is looking for an empathetic selection for the papacy to restore the values of faith, love and coexistence in the religion of one billion members worldwide.

I am witness to the relentless search for truth and justice by students of the University of Guam.  As a community, we should all be proud of the numbers that are enrolling there.  As parents, we should be proud of their efforts to enrich their lives through education.  As students, you should be proud of taking that huge step and finding the truth in art, communications, psychology, biology or whatever your heart is telling you to look at to further grow your knowledge base.  

The other day, I heard someone mention that a bachelors degree in college means absolutely nothing.  I could not tell you if that person in fact had a college degree.  I am not certain that this person does not have or had a child or children that may have been attending or have graduated from a university.  It was such an awkward statement-baseless is another way to describe it.  I would disagree that such is not useful in the ever-changing world we live in today. An education is so much more important today than ever before.

We should be pushing more and more students in the high schools to attain their college education.  While struggles continue to prepare them for such, our communities must embrace the qualities that exemplify a college educated young person.  Let us not forget that it will be their hopes and dreams that will be tomorrow's great ideas in innovation and advancement as a citizen of this planet.  

Armed with the tidbits from this particular blog post, certainly what will follow will be something special for our island and our world.

Bunk Beds-Savoy Furniture's SMART BED: A Safer Sleep Experience Coming To A Dorm Near You

Growing up, our family has always had a bunk bed in our house.  Mom figured with two of us, the bunk bed solution was practical.  My Mom and mothers since the times of ancient Egypt all had the same reasoning for choosing to use the bunk bed. Bunk beds are good on space.  They sleep two.  It kept my brother and I separate-more or less from pounding on each other as growing boys have been doing to each other each night for hundreds of years.  And the bunk bed is comfortable.  Really comfortable.

The bunk bed continues to evolve in terms of design and today is made from a variety of materials.  While many a parent today rely on the bunk bed to take care of their children's  sleeping needs, ensuring the safety on those beds is becoming ever so important both at home and away.

For the better part of 13 years, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has worked diligently to address safety concerns after receiving reports of deaths of children who died when they were trapped between the upper bunk of a bunk bed and the wall or when they were trapped in openings in the bed's structure.  Safety upgrades like the use of guardrails have done much to reduce the risk of harm to kids and young adults sleeping on bunk beds and does not adversely affect the performance and availability of the long term standard in homes and dorm rooms across the world.   Let's not forget storage and mitigating risk for some young adults who will rely on them for the newest chapter in their lives-many away from their home for the first time.

Now as a father with young children, I have a bunk bed in my house and want to make sure that they all are having a safe and sound nights' sleep.  Also, with kids headed to college in the coming years, the bunk bed standard will be just as important for them in that transition away from home.

With that said, this week Savoy Furniture has reached out to 3,500 colleges, universities and design firms introducing them to a great new product-the SMART Bed.  

The innovative SMART Bed features increased storage with a modular, anti-bed bug and tool-less design.  These features are missing in other bunk bed products on the market today.  Contact GET, LLC for more information on the SMART Bed.

I think this new product will be a great addition to any institution of higher learning that relies on the modern bunk bed for the sleeping needs of their student. 

While the CPSC has excluded regulation on the bunk bed in institutions of higher learning, there is a chance this may change soon. 

With the Savoy SMART Bed, you can expect to be ahead of the regulatory changes and allowing your end user-the student- to better adapt to the challenges of college life while still enjoying the comforts of home.