Oakton Selects Scifo as Director of Facilities

(Sept. 4, 2018) Oakton Community College has selected Joseph Scifo as the college’s new director of facilities, effective Monday, Sept. 17. The Oakton Board of Trustees approved Scifo’s appointment at its Aug. 21 meeting. Scifio most recently served as the director of facilities for Augustana College.

“This hiring process has been a selective and lengthy nationwide search as we wanted to be sure we found the right person for the role,” Oakton Vice President for Administrative Affairs Edwin Chandrasekar says. “Joe has a proven track record as an innovator, team builder and a positive agent of change. He knows how to take established facilities and bring them to new levels of success.”

Scifo, who was selected from a pool of 37 applicants, is excited about the next phase of his career.

“I can’t wait to start at Oakton,” Scifo says. “My first priority will be to get to the know my staff, peers, administrative team and involved members of the student body to listen to their thoughts about what are the best things about Oakton and what things need improvement. I look forward to being a part of the Oakton community and helping to make plans at the college become reality.”

At Oakton, Scifo will oversee the full spectrum of facility matters including building construction, maintenance and repair for the campus grounds for the 147-acre campus at Des Plaines consisting of 530,000 square feet of buildings as well as its 215,000 square feet of buildings at the Skokie campus spanning 26 acres.

“With a strong background in facilities management and familiarity with the higher education sector, Joe is well prepared for this position and will be a great asset to Oakton,” Chandrasekar adds.

While at Augustana College, Scifo was responsible for the overall maintenance and upkeep of more than 90 campus buildings and 115 acres of grounds. Most recently, he oversaw a $14 million project to remodel a 1960s-era residence hall.

Before Augustana, Scifo served as a project architect for Walgreens, where he managed all phases of architectural work including schematic design, design development and bidding and construction phase observations for new store construction in multiple states. He holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Wisconsin, is a registered architect in Illinois and is a member of the American Institute of Architects.