2011 SCUP Award for Institutional Innovation and Integration Recipient

Image provided by The Ohio State University To view a larger image (PDF) click here

The 2011 recipient for SCUP’s Institutional Innovation and Integration is The Ohio State University (OSU) for their entry, One Ohio State Framework Plan.

The framework plan is a structure for guiding change in the physical environment that is comprehensive, integrated, and dynamic. It is built on the university’s mission and goal of moving from excellence to eminence, becoming “One University” driven by a common vision and supported by trans-institutional execution.

The chief purpose of the framework is to ensure the mission drives the physical environment. The framework includes guiding principles, a long- term vision for the campus, and a series of scenarios and priority projects that launch the university towards its vision; the principles and vision have already positively influenced their most significant current capital projects.

It has also reshaped how they plan. The process of developing the framework instituted a culture shift toward collaborative, data-driven planning. Hundreds of staff, faculty, and students came together, many groups for the first time, to consider integrated planning issues and these relationships continue to evolve. The process also engaged a variety of external constituent groups including city and state government, the University Area Commission, and other neighborhood groups.

By integrating social, economic, and physical considerations into scenario generation, the Framework delivers realistic sustainable actions in support of the strategic mission. These include the concentration of academic activity in regenerated facilities to foster a culture of collaboration, the reclamation of the river corridor, and the creation of a vibrant 24/7 residential campus focused on community.

The Framework’s key innovation is the application of an integrated analysis function that synthesizes academic, financial, and physical information to planning and design challenges. This analysis touched almost every aspect of the university: academic plans, space use, building condition, energy use, parking, recreation needs, storm water, habitat, pedestrian patterns, and infrastructure needs.

A critical product of their work was an innovative decision support system to help ensure that planning integrates academic, strategic, financial and physical considerations across the entire university; the process is increasingly data-driven, interactive, and transparent.

This award recognizes and honors the achievement of higher education institutions or teams of individuals whose work demonstrates innovative thinking, planning, and implementation in an integrated fashion.