Learning Resources

Use Evidence to Plan Facilities That Drive Student Success

By: Elliot Felix

In this article, the author draws upon research from his book How to Get the Most Out of College to highlight the evidence that campus planners and designers can use to help drive student success.

Abstract: Colleges and universities are in the midst of a transition from an access mindset to a success mindset, and campus facilities can play a role in this shift. Institutions don’t have to guess at how—a large body of research can and should inform how we plan, design, and operate our campuses. In this article, the author draws upon research from his book How to Get the Most Out of College to highlight the evidence that campus planners and designers can use to help drive student success.

Institutions Mentioned: University of Rochester, Arizona State University-Tempe
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Learning Commons, Learning Environments, Student Experience, Student Housing, Student Retention, Student Support Services

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Campus Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse

Leverage These Tools to Achieve Your Planning and Sustainability Goals

By: Meaghan Finney, MS, and Michael Patrick, M.Arch, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP

By integrating historic buildings into your campus planning, their continued reuse can help solve some of the specific challenges facing university planners today.

From Volume 50 Number 4 | July–September 2022

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.

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Conference Recordings

Published
March 9, 2021

2021 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference | March 2021

Using Technology to Facilitate a Safe Return to Campus

By: Alex Gentry, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | Thomas Kase, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | Jason Wolfgang, Pennsylvania State University | Mike Weaver, Pennsylvania State University

In order to facilitate a return to campus post-COVID, Penn State leveraged technology and cross-functional teams to successfully plan and implement safe social distancing measures across various rooms types using a decentralized management model.

Abstract: With thirty-three million square feet of space across twenty-three campuses, facility management is a complex process at Pennsylvania State University. In order to facilitate a return to campus post-COVID, Penn State leveraged technology and cross-functional teams to successfully plan and implement safe social distancing measures across various rooms types using a decentralized management model. Come learn from the successes and failures of a state-wide, multi-campus integrated planning and implementation effort to ensure the health and safety of the Penn State community.

Institutions Mentioned: Pennsylvania State University
Planning Types: Campus Planning, Information Technology Planning
Tags: COVID-19, Facilities Management, Facilities Planning, Learning Environments, SCUP 2021 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, Space Management, Technology Infrastructure

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The Connected Campus

Building Long-Term Value and Agility by Connecting Offerings, Organizations and Operations

By: Elliot Felix, MArch

Campus environments play a vital role in student success. By making changes to their combination of spaces, institutions can respond to the shifts transforming higher education. Elliot Felix shares how colleges and universities can prepare for a more blended world by bringing together the digital and physical, enabling greater diversity and inclusion, and implementing flexible structures, staffing, space, and services. Sponsored Content: Knoll and brightspot strategy.

Abstract: Historic separations that defined higher education are dissolving: research is more interdisciplinary, online and on-campus learning are converging, wet and dry labs are blending, teaching and research overlap, and academia forges relationships with corporate partners. Institutions, by improving how they connect what they offer, how they are organized, and how they operate, can build value and agility to better assist their people on campus. Real-world examples in this white paper from Knoll and brightspot strategy discuss how campus spaces support student success, including how to fully use the campus; creating spaces that sustain diverse and flexible ways of working; thinking phygitally; and creating environments where today’s purpose-driven and entrepreneurial students (Gen Z) will thrive as they prepare to enter the workforce.

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Back to School Through the Lens of ASHRAE

By: Hosts: Niusha Arndt, Designer, Perkins + Will, BSA/SCUP College + University Roundtable; Patrick Murphy, Associate Principal and Director of Sustainable Design, Vanderweil Engineers, BSA/SCUP College + University Roundtable | Moderator: Nancy May, Formerly Vice President, Facility & Operations Management, Northeastern University | Panelists: Susanna M. Baker, Director of Facilities & Space Planning, MIT Sloan School of Management; Bill Bahnfleth, Leader of ASHRAE’s Epidemic Task Force, Former President of ASHRAE (worldwide), Professor of Architectural Engineering at Penn State University

Panelists Susanna M. Baker, MIT Sloan School of Management, and Bill Bahnfleth, ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) and Penn State University, discussed requirements for a typical campus upgrade and reviewed ASHRAE recommendations on improving campus safety in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also addressed some of the unique challenges for an urban campus response to maintaining campus safety.

Abstract: This is the third in a series of webinars, “Less Talk, More Action: Tactical Topics to Return to Campus,” jointly sponsored by SCUP’s North Atlantic Region, BSA, and their BSA/SCUP College + University Roundtable focused on the impact of COVID-19 on campuses.

Institutions Mentioned: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: COVID-19, Facilities Planning, Infrastructure, Response Planning, Urban Campus

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Webinar Recordings

Published
June 10, 2020

Coffee Chat: COVID-19 Physical Distancing in Classrooms

By: Pamela Garbini, Penn State, Assistant Director for Space Management, Planning Design & Properties | Tom Kase, Penn State, Classroom Architect, Planning Design & Properties

We are all trying to figure out how to safely bring students back to classrooms for the fall semester. A discussion about 6-foot physical distancing layout modifications in existing classrooms, reduced occupancy yields when dealing with fixed seating versus movable seating, creating instructor zones, creating alternate instruction spaces.

Abstract: We are all trying to figure out how to safely bring students back to classrooms for the fall semester. A discussion about 6-foot physical distancing layout modifications in existing classrooms, reduced occupancy yields when dealing with fixed seating versus movable seating, creating instructor zones, creating alternate instruction spaces.

Institutions Mentioned: Pennsylvania State University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: COVID-19, Health and Wellness, Learning Environments, Response Planning

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Permeability by Design

Fostering flow, creating connectivity, promoting creative solutions.

By: Jeanne L. Narum, Thomas Hickerson, Barbara J Speziale, and Jorge A Vanegas

Permeable spaces invite people in, encourage use, are flexible and memorable, and allow coming and going. You can infuse permeability into almost any learning space. Read how three campuses (Texas A&M University Campus, Clemson University, and University of Calgary) are using permeability in their emerging design elements.

Institutions Mentioned: Texas A & M University-College Station, Clemson University, University of Calgary
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Learning Environments

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
January 1, 2019

Land-Grant Campuses for the 21st Century

Moving Beyond Rural and Semi-Rural Sites

By: Greg Havens

To address new population groups and respond to today’s challenges, these institutions plan spaces that also welcome urban, suburban, and remote students.

From Volume 47 Number 2 | January–March 2019

Abstract: Over their 150-year history, land-grant universities have played a tremendous and vital role in the development of the United States and the education of its people. Most of these institutions were established as the result of the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862. How has this mission, drafted in a much different time, held up over the years? As we move toward the third decade of the twenty-first century, many universities are evolving to better embrace changing student demographics; build industry partnerships; and reframe campus legacies to ensure that the land-grant mission still supports the needs of our times.

Institutions Mentioned: Auburn University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Clemson University, University of Kentucky, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, University of Maine at Orono
Planning Types: Campus Planning

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
October 1, 2018

Welcome to Campus

Planning for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity

By: Caitlyn Clauson, John McKnight

Creating and sustaining a more welcoming and inclusive campus environment positions both institutions and students to succeed in a more diverse world.

From Volume 47 Number 1 | October–December 2018

Abstract: Higher education institutions, across nearly all socio-cultural cross-sections, are more diverse today than ever before. This evolution in campus demographics also coincides with the changing values, priorities, and needs of students. The bottom line for many of today’s students is clear: now more than ever, values matter when selecting a school. This article explores the programmatic and administrative responses as well as the physical planning and design opportunities associated with creating and sustaining more diverse and inclusive campus environments.

Institutions Mentioned: Connecticut College, Lewis & Clark College, University of Florida, University of Calgary
Planning Types: Campus Planning, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning
Tags: Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Planning, Student Demographics

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 4, 2006

Improving Assessment of Space Utilization in a Transdisciplinary Research Environment

By: Ben Huey,JoAnne Valdenegro

The valuable transformation of discrete scientific research so that it is more frequently interdisciplinary “challenges traditional approaches to space management.” The Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University is trying to directly link what is actually happening in joint spaces, which may not always parallel the users’ faculty affiliations.

From Volume 34 Number 4 | July–September 2006

Abstract: This article describes a method for attributing research expenditures directly to assigned space that avoids the difficulties with traditional approaches that have arisen from the growth of interdisciplinary research activities where the attribution of research to the faculty member or unit is not strongly correlated with the location where the research is performed. The emergence and growth of new transdisciplinary research activities that not only connect research from traditional disciplines but also form the unifying theme around which a whole new area may form depends in part on reducing traditional barriers to space allocation and encouraging the creative efforts of everyone contributing to meet research space needs. Projects may be distributed across several rooms, some of which are shared with other projects. We seek to attribute credit for such efforts using approximations from existing data to avoid exacerbating an already onerous data collection challenge. The pilot version and a second iteration of the project have been completed with worthwhile results. A new analysis is currently underway with further improved data collection, an enhanced database, and a more systematic process.

Institutions Mentioned: Arizona State University-Tempe

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