SCUP
 

Learning Resources

Your Higher Education Planning Library

Combine search terms, filters, institution names, and tags to find the vital resources to help you and your team tackle today’s challenges and plan for the future. Get started below, or learn how the library works.

FOUND 12 RESOURCES

REFINED BY:

  • Format: Planning for Higher Education Journalx
  • Tags: Interdisciplinary Learning EnvironmentsxLaboratory Facilityx

Clear All
ABSTRACT:  | 
SORT BY:  | 
Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
April 30, 2025

Featured Image

Colocating Dissimilar Academic Programs

A School of Nursing and a School of Engineering Align for Mutually Beneficial Outcomes

By: Ed Stand, BArch, LEED BD+C, AIA, Richard S. Leddy, MBA, P.E., and Laura White, BArch, AIA, LEED AP, WELL AP

Respecting mission-oriented mutual goals, two schools at Hofstra University shaped an improbable pedagogical partnership through cross-functional collaboration and data-informed decision-making.

From Volume 53 Number 2 | January–March 2025

Abstract: Administrators at colleges and universities across the country face mounting concerns over enrollment rates, curricular rigor, and climbing real estate costs. These challenges are particularly daunting for liberal arts institutions, many of which have pivoted or are pivoting to STEM programs out of necessity. Cross-disciplinary colocation strategies can enhance hands-on learning opportunities while optimizing spatial and financial resources. This article explores the planning approach to forming mutually successful partnerships between dissimilar academic programs through mission-oriented cross-functional collaboration, including examples of tools and processes for data-informed decision-making.

Member Price:
Free  | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
August 16, 2024

Featured Image

Bridging Research Silos

Improve Collaboration with a Planning Framework

By: Donald Merritt, PhD, and Craig Park, BSArch, Assoc. AIA

The authors emphasize practical applications and the integration of diverse expertise as a transformative approach to educational facility design.

From Volume 52 Number 4 | July–September 2024

Abstract: This article explores the application of interdisciplinary translational design (ITD) as a method to overcome disciplinary silos, enhance collaboration and integration across various fields, and promote a culture of respect and cooperation. ITD facilitates the creation of adaptable, technology-rich environments supportive of future-oriented research. Emphasizing practical applications and the integration of diverse expertise, ITD is presented as a transformative approach to educational facility design, fostering more effective interdisciplinary interactions and optimized research outcomes.

Member Price:
Free  | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
April 19, 2023

Featured Image

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Align Strategic, Physical, and Capital Planning for the Next Generation of Students

By: Jacob Guter, MPA, RA, and Doug Kozma, BSLA, PLA

Michigan Technological University used active stakeholder engagement, frequent reviews, and vigorous discussion to develop its aspirational master plan.

From Volume 51 Number 3 | April–June 2023

Abstract: Profound technological changes are occurring today, and universities need to prepare our students to work and live in this new world. Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech) is addressing the future of technology in society, academia, and the campus through our Tech Forward Strategic Plan, a bold enrollment and retention initiative, an aggressive capital campaign, and a dynamic hiring initiative. Our aspirational campus master plan, developed in partnership with SmithGroup, an integrated design firm, integrates and supports these initiatives and goals. Active stakeholder engagement, frequent reviews, and vigorous discussion allowed us to craft a campus master plan aligning strategic, physical, and capital planning that supports and drives the university’s 2035 Vision.

Member Price:
Free  | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
May 25, 2022

Featured Image

Scaling Active Learning Classrooms

Adopt 11 Best Practices to Transform Existing Spaces to Support Student Success

By: Sharon Beaudry, JD, SPHR

A large-scale study uncovered factors that led to successful scaling of active learning spaces and pedagogical approaches in colleges and universities.

From Volume 50 Number 3 | April–June 2022

Abstract: Active learning has been a growing trend in higher education for decades based on its positive impact on student learning and success. Colleges and universities have invested resources into expanding this teaching approach by using active learning classrooms (ALCs). But why have some institutions been successful at rapidly growing their ALCs and learning spaces, while others have struggled? This article, focusing on the higher education arena, summarizes the best practices from a large-scale study that uncovered factors that led to successful scaling of learning spaces and pedagogical approaches in colleges and universities.

Member Price:
Free  | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
October 1, 2019

Featured Image

Phased Transformations of Academic Buildings

Can’t vacate the facility? Renovation in stages can be planned efficiently.

By: Roger N. Goldstein, Amanda L. Sanders, Bernard J. Dooley

When you’re renovating a campus building, you’re contending with dust, noise, vibration, the risk of budget overruns, relocating occupants, extended timelines, and more. Following best practices of experienced planners can help you to mitigate the most common challenges.

From Volume 48 Number 1 | October–December 2019

Abstract: As mid-20th-century buildings reach the end of their service life, academic institutions are confronted by the challenge of renovating them while they remain partially occupied. When appropriate swing space is unavailable, or when there is no potential for vacating a building completely to allow renovation to occur more efficiently, a phased approach becomes necessary. The consequences of committing to phased renovation, however, are not only logistical, but also financial, programmatic, and technical. Through analysis of phased renovation projects across multiple building types, one can extract best practices for planning, design, and construction to mitigate many of the most common challenges.

Member Price:
Free

Non-Member Price:
Free

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
October 1, 2018

Featured Image

Designing for STEM

California Community Colleges Are Helping Shape the STEM Workforce of the Future

By: Irene Monis

Community colleges are developing sophisticated simulation laboratories, makerspaces, and innovation centers to prepare students to successfully enter the STEM workforce and meet the needs of high-tech employers.

From Volume 47 Number 1 | October–December 2018

Abstract: The demand for graduates and technicians in the academic fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is influencing the design of specialized educational facilities in community colleges. Community colleges are increasingly aligning their academic programs to the specific economic development priorities and projected demand for skilled labor in the geographic regions they serve. It is expected that partnerships with local industry will increasingly shape curriculum development and facilities design. This trend is rapidly developing in California, where community colleges are incorporating sophisticated simulation laboratories, makerspaces, and innovation centers outfitted with advanced infrastructure and equipment, along with spaces that support the full spectrum of competencies required for graduates to succeed in the STEM labor market.

Member Price:
Free  | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
October 1, 2018

Featured Image

Out of the Shadows

Science and Technology Buildings Emerge as Campus Experience Hubs

By: Rick A. Oches, Marie Bernardo-Sousa, Robert H. Quigley

To prepare students for 21st-century careers, recent capital investments are placing science and technology at the center of campus, with new facilities designed as both social and learning spaces.

From Volume 47 Number 1 | October–December 2018

Member Price:
Free  | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2017

Featured Image

Collaborative Spaces Transform Teaching, Amplify Learning, and Maximize Resources

By: Andrea Leers

A wide range of interactive, hands-on, and socially enhanced settings provide space for the most effective and dynamic teaching and learning in higher education today.

From Volume 45 Number 4 | July–September 2017

Abstract: Leers Weinzapfel Associates recently talked with campus planners and facilities directors nationwide about the big issues driving campus planning. Rapidly evolving pedagogies are demanding radical rethinking of effective teaching and learning spaces. Better use and optimal configuration of these venues is key as the stereotypical “sage on the stage” mode of instruction rapidly expands through a wide range of interactive, hands-on, and socially enhanced settings. Several examples of the firm’s work—the University of Massachusetts Amherst John W. Olver Design Building, the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Stadium Drive Residence Hall, and the Wentworth Institute of Technology (Boston) Multipurpose Academic Building—substantiate these findings in practice.

Member Price:
Free  | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2017

Featured Image

Changing the Future of Health Care

The University of North Dakota’s New School of Medicine and Health Sciences

By: James Galloway,Amanda Kosior

Designed and built for collaborative, interdisciplinary education through a highly engaged process, this building transforms health care education and health care for the entire state.

From Volume 45 Number 4 | July–September 2017

Abstract: With North Dakota experiencing a significant shortage in all health care-related fields, the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences replaced its aging facility with a new school in order to (1) increase enrollment by 25 percent, (2) attract and retain top-tier faculty and staff, (3) encourage inter-professional collaboration, (4) colocate all eight medical, health sciences, and basic sciences in one building, and (5) retain more in-state graduates. The facility is now a shared collaborative learning environment, the result of the university “rethinking everything” about how it delivered health sciences education.

Member Price:
Free  | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2017

Featured Image

Strategies to Successfully Navigate the Design of STEM Facilities

A Case Study at the University of Mississippi

By: Shirine Boulos Anderson,Maurice Eftink

Successfully planning interdisciplinary, inter-college STEM facilities requires a special set of tools to navigate the challenges that arise when dealing with a diverse set of users.

From Volume 45 Number 4 | July–September 2017

Abstract: Colleges and universities are increasingly planning interdisciplinary, inter-college STEM facilities and need tools to address the special challenges that arise when dealing with a diverse set of users. This article discusses the importance of articulating a STEM vision as a means to prioritize building program components while maintaining project goals. It describes effective strategies for organizing diverse user groups, anticipating potentially challenging group dynamics, in a programming process that yields consensus about common goals and shared resources. It discusses layout strategies that support the mission of the building and an approach to STEM building governance that is independent of a particular college or department. The University of Mississippi is used as a case study.

Member Price:
Free  | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access