New Year's Day is a time for fresh starts and new goals. But have you considered making a 2014 resolution to advance your career? Whether you are just starting out in the field of health care facilities management or are a seasoned veteran, there are goals you can set now to help advance your career in the coming year.

Those who want to expand their understanding of various aspects of the field should consider education courses. ASHE is offering several courses in 2014, including ones covering the fundamentals of health care facility management; infection prevention; health care facility commissioning; managing accreditation; and managing the planning, design and construction process. In addition, ASHE also is working with Schneider Electric, Palatine, Ill., to provide free online classes through its Energy University. To find out more about these educational offerings, visit www.ashe.org/learn.

Those without a college degree may want to consider a goal of completing a new Health Facility Leadership degree program offered through Owensboro (Ky.) Community & Technical College. The program is offered entirely online and is geared toward adults who want to earn a college degree in health facility leadership while working.

If you already have several years of experience in the field, consider earning the Certified Healthcare Facility Manager (CHFM) or Certified Healthcare Constructor (CHC) designation. Those with a CHFM or CHC designation are recognized as the elite in their professions. They also tend to make more money than those without the designation. A 2012 salary survey conducted by ASHE and Health Facilities Management magazine found that those with CHFM certification, for example, earned an extra $10,000 in salary on average. ASHE offers preparation courses for both the CHFM and CHC exams. For more information on these certification programs, visit the American Hospital Association's Certification Center at www.aha.org/certifcenter.

Another way to boost your career is to earn fellow or senior status in ASHE. Earning your FASHE or SASHE designation is a great way to show your commitment to the profession through leadership, education and publishing. Apply now for 2014 — applications are due March 1 — or read over the requirements and set specific goals to meet the requirements by the time 2015 applications are due. Visit www.ashe.org/about/designations to learn more about the programs.

If you already have earned your CHFM and your SASHE or FASHE designation, perhaps your New Year's resolution should be giving back to your profession through succession planning. Helping to create the next generation of facility managers is a top priority because large numbers of facility managers will be retiring soon. Consider creating a succession plan for your facility or hosting an intern through the ASHE internship program. More on that program is available at www.ashe.org/internship.

Of course, the key to making any New Year's resolution successful is following through. Look at your options now for improving your career and mark your calendar so you won't miss an opportunity.

By Deanna Martin, senior communications specialist for ASHE.

ASHE insight

Important monographs available

ASHE makes important resources available to members. Following are two monographs that can be accessed by ASHE members as free PDFs at www.ashe.org/resources/management_monographs.

• Life Safety Code Comparison. The 2012 edition of the National Fire Protection Association's Life Safety Code offers new design and compliance options for health care facilities that didn't exist in previous editions. This ASHE monograph provides an exhaustive list of the changes in the new edition and a detailed comparison with the 2000 and 2009 editions.

• Room Ventilation and Airborne Disease. This ASHE monograph examines research on how room ventilation affects airborne-disease transmission in health care facilities. Farhad Memarzadeh, Ph.D., P.E., examines findings that consider the effects of air changes per hour on infection transmission.

ASHE Blog offers free subscription service

The ASHE Blog keeps members up-to-date on developments and offers a free subscription service so that members can get posts delivered directly to their email inboxes. To receive this service, visit www.ashe.org/blog, sign in and click "Subscribe" in the black bar near the top of the page.