Learning Resources

Abstract: While universities have long been bastions of intellectual diversity, they are now embracing a broader understanding of diversity that extends beyond race, gender, and socioeconomic background. Neurodiversity, a concept celebrating the natural variations in human neurological functioning, is gaining prominence as an essential aspect of fostering a truly inclusive educational environment.

Abstract: Historic campus buildings are often perceived as a burden, but by integrating them into your campus planning, their continued reuse can help solve some of the specific challenges facing university planners today, specifically in the context of sustainability. There are numerous case studies that demonstrate the successful adaptive reuse of varied campus buildings as well as an undeniable body of evidence showing the benefits of such an approach in working toward carbon neutrality. As long-term stewards of their built environments, colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to realize enduring savings from investing in the energy performance of existing buildings.

Abstract: The most effective master plans are those that reflect the myriad voices of the institution. We’re finding the engagement process is fast becoming as important a product of the plan as the plan itself. Engagement should be informative, inclusive, meaningful, and fun—and should be the product of an integrated process. Leveraging the University of California, Berkeley’s Campus Master Plan as a case study, this article provides a framework for developing custom engagement strategies, and highlights examples, lessons learned, and tips for optimizing meaningful participation.

Abstract: The quadrangle is a medieval-European legacy adapted by American universities during the nineteenth century. Given technological advances and changes in society, is the nineteenth-century icon changing? Will the American campus look different in the future? With a selected group of students, faculty, alumni, and staff, we discussed the relevance—past, present, and future—of Stanford University’s Main Quadrangle—as a venue for discourse and community engagement. Despite it being a relic, we concluded that the Main Quad continues to be the heart of the Stanford campus community.

Abstract: Human education is an experience that has a spatial dimension. To optimize the design/architectural component as a factor of excellence, historically, the coordination of two attitudes at universities has been a vital heritage: utopia and planning. Utopia is the energy used by universities to conceive and evolve their physical establishments. By the process of planning, campuses have undergone a long-term evolution of their built heritage, focusing on those where the hallmark is their human scale. This article illustrates briefly the application of these concepts in five cases, which have been culturally recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites. However, it explores in depth one of those: The University of Virginia.

Abstract: This article evaluates administrative bloat, the ballooning growth of administrative functions and personnel, in American higher education. This evaluation was undertaken through a review of the available literature describing administrative bloat. Though unintentional, increased spending and government requirements for accountability may have contributed to overall growth and cost in higher education. Similarly, the changing composition of faculty—in terms of tenure-track faculty, annual contracts, and adjunct faculty—may have also played a role in the increased influence that administration has over campus policy and curricular decisions. Strategies to mitigate the cost of administrative bloat and to balance campus decisions between faculty and administration are suggested.

Abstract: This article explores a major opportunity that universities have to capitalize on their existing property portfolio to both earn additional revenue and enhance the quality of the student and staff experience: the creation of university-linked retirement communities. We examine this opportunity in the context of demographic and educational trends in the United States and United Kingdom and identify the factors that act as catalysts for universities to create these communities. We then describe a conceptual framework for university-linked retirement communities that categorizes communities in terms of the level of university involvement in the community and the level of care provided to the residents. We next place university-linked retirement communities in a broader context of social housing trends in Europe and suggest that it may also be possible to create more socially inclusive university-linked learning-centered communities that provide additional opportunities for universities to capitalize on their resources and expertise while contributing to the surrounding community.

Abstract: The commonly-used expression “going to college” affirms that higher education is still rooted in place. Our institutions have three cultures in which learners physically immerse themselves: collegiate culture (a generational culture); academic culture (an intellectual culture); and campus culture (an institutional culture). Other agents—the armed forces and the work place, for instance—also acculturate young adults, but colleges and universities alone nurture academic culture. For this reason, the design of campus places as learning spaces becomes a critical issue. We must be endlessly inventive in creating and celebrating the cultures of place in academic life.

Abstract: Today, the amount of space devoted to research at research universities exceeds that of classrooms and class laboratories. This research space portfolio presents important policy and management challenges. As stewards of this portfolio, universities must address issues of funding the construction of research facilities, equipping and maintaining them, allocating and accounting for space used for research, and managing, in broadest terms, the physical and administrative infrastructure in which research is conducted. As this article illustrates, managing the balance between the growing demand for and the supply of research space is complicated. To address the issues of research space, universities have developed a variety of space management methods to fit their unique research missions, priorities, and operational culture. This article provides important insights into this little studied aspect of higher education space planning. The article is an overview of research space management across the U. S. on general campuses and in health science centers. It is based on interviews with senior administrators in selected research universities conducted specifically for this study, information about research space management available on university documents on the Internet, and on the work of Ira Fink and Associates, Inc. in programming research facilities on a multitude of campuses nationwide.