Learning Resources

Abstract: The architects and planners of a new college or university enjoy a singular opportunity: the ability to start from scratch, unencumbered by existing buildings, entrenched administrative and faculty empires, or the traditions and prejudices normally encountered in an existing institution. Conversely, there are handicaps. Speed usually is mandatory. Classroom seats and/or dormitory beds must be provided immediately for initial enrollment levels. But specialized facilities must be planned with ultimate enrollments in mind. Even more than in existing institutions, change in the uses to which the new facilities will be put must be assumed. In perhaps the most sophisticated repsonse to these challenges to date, the planners of Stockton State College in New Jersey turned to the use of systems building, fast-track planning, and construction management to produce a 1,000-student, first phase campus in 20 months. More significantly, an elaborate set of phased or incremental plans was developed to permit orderly growth to an ultimate enrollment of 7,500. The resulting facilities described in this article emerged with a chameleon-like ability to change in function as, phase by phase, the new campus was developed.