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Plan for and Design Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Campus Spaces

By: Shannon Dowling, MArch, AIA, LEEDAP

Many marginalized student populations don’t see themselves as higher education material. Creating places on campus that reaffirm to them that they belong is vital.

From Volume 51 Number 1 | October–December 2022

Abstract: When carefully considered and thoughtfully planned, physical campus space has the power to reinforce an institution’s values around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Institutions Mentioned: Virginia Commonwealth University, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, Ryerson University, Chapman University, Bennett College
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Active Learning Environments, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Health and Wellness, Informal Learning Environments, Landscape / Open Space, Learning Environments, Original Research, Placemaking, Student Experience, Underserved Students

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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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Webinar Recordings

Published
April 20, 2021

A Different Kind of SMART

Using Performance-Oriented Metrics to Redefine Success in a Forward-Focused Research Lab

By: Carlos Perez Rubio, AIA, LEED AP, HERA laboratory planners | Sarah T. Smith, NCARB, LEED GA, Auburn University | Clay Stafford, HERA laboratory planners

In this presentation, we discuss how to identify and select appropriate metrics—equally focused on education and research—for evaluating “SMART” research laboratories.

Abstract: “SMART” built environments usually refer to buildings with embedded technologies that allow them to run as efficiently as possible. Yet for research institutions, that definition should be expanded beyond efficiency to include metrics that are used to quantify research productivity and accomplishments. The expected useful life of the building and individual labs, research dollars generated per square foot, intellectual property generated, and successful recruitment and retainment of researchers are but a few bottom line-oriented measures that colleges and universities use. By embracing the business side of higher education, architects can create even smarter built environments.

In this presentation, we discuss how to identify and select appropriate metrics for institutions that are equally focused on education and research. What objective and subjective measures can be considered? Are these metrics applicable in our new (hopefully) post-COVID reality? How are institutions reallocating space in this new reality? How do we redefine the future of “smart” higher education research facilities?

Institutions Mentioned: Auburn University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Planning, Laboratory Facility, Learning Environments, Selecting Metrics, Space Assessment

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Conference Recordings

Published
March 18, 2021

2021 North Atlantic Regional Conference | March 2021

The Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center

Auburn University Virtual Tour

By: Taylor Dyleski, Auburn University | Christopher Heacox, Auburn University | Josh Stiling, Wilson Butler Architects | Paul Vaivoda, Wilson Butler Architects

The latest installment of a developing arts district at Auburn University, The Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center is an 85,000 gross square feet facility consisting of a multi-purpose performance hall, a flexible second venue and outdoor amphitheater, and public front-of-house and technical back-of-house support spaces. This virtual live tour will feature a mixture of produced video and live feed to offer an overview of the planning and architectural considerations involved in the design of a community-facing building.

Abstract: The latest installment of a developing arts district at Auburn University, The Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center is an 85,000 gross square feet facility consisting of a multi-purpose performance hall, a flexible second venue and outdoor amphitheater, and public front-of-house and technical back-of-house support spaces. This virtual live tour will feature a mixture of produced video and live feed to offer an overview of the planning and architectural considerations involved in the design of a community-facing building and will exhibit live demonstrations of the multi-purpose hall’s rigging and technical components. The executive director of the Gogue Center will provide additional insight on how programming and facility use has adapted during a pandemic, followed by Q&A.

Institutions Mentioned: Auburn University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Arts District, COVID-19, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Fine and Performing Arts Facility, SCUP 2021 North Atlantic Regional Conference

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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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Conference Recordings

Published
October 5, 2020

2020 Southern Regional Conference | October 2020

How the Performing Arts Foster Successful Long-term Town and Gown Relationship Growth

By: Paul Vaivoda, Wilson Butler Architects | Michele Walter, AMS Planning & Research | David Bess, Auburn University | Josh Stiling, Wilson Butler Architects | Christopher Heacox, Gogue Performing Arts Center at Auburn University

This session will discuss how performing arts facilities, when successfully planned, designed, and programmed, can enhance and respond to evolving campus and community cultural demands.

Abstract: When integrated into a community context, college and university performing arts venues connect the community to the campus on the common ground of expanded artistic appreciation and growth. This session will discuss how performing arts facilities, when successfully planned, designed, and programmed, can enhance and respond to evolving campus and community cultural demands. Come learn how expanding the cultural and intellectual experience through the performing arts can lead to student, faculty, and administrative retention as well improve community quality of life and economic vitality.

Institutions Mentioned: Auburn University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Community Engagement, Facilities Planning, Fine and Performing Arts Facility, SCUP 2020 Southern Regional Conference, Town and Gown

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Universal Design in the Age of COVID-19

Changes Are Demanding That Campuses Include All Learners

By: Greg Havens

Demographics on campuses have changed, expectations for accessibility have increased, and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need to provide inclusive experiences for all learners. Thirty years after the ADA was signed into law, much has been achieved; however, there is more to be accomplished at colleges and universities if we are to provide inclusive experiences for all learners. A renewed approach to campus planning and design, informed by the principles of Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning, and with a commitment to delivering hybridized online and in-person models of educational delivery, is needed now.

From Volume 48 Number 4 | July–September 2020

Abstract: In context of COVID-19, institutions are developing new approaches to online learning at an unprecedented pace. Looking ahead, this great experiment may offer lessons for broadening the definition of accessibility. Three decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act established minimum accessibility standards for the built environment, this moment of accelerated change presents a unique opportunity to utilize hybrid delivery models and universal design principles to rethink accessibility. Sasaki principal Greg Havens examines how continued emphasis on improvements to the physical environment, when combined with hybrid learning and services, could transform the way we plan the human-centered, accessible campuses of tomorrow.

Institutions Mentioned: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania
Planning Types: Campus Planning, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning
Tags: Accessibility, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), COVID-19, Facilities Planning, Learning Environments, Online Learning, Underserved Students

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Conference Presentations

Published
March 20, 2019

2019 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference | March 2019

Beyond Boundaries

How Living-Learning Fuses Creativity, Innovation, and the Arts

By: Joe Atkins, Greg Havens, Zebulon V. Coble, David A. Keith, Dade Van Der Werf

In this session, we will share explicit, purposeful strategies for how to administer shared academic arts and campus life programs that foster interdisciplinary inquiry.

Abstract: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's (Virginia Tech) Creativity and Innovation District (CID) is a trans-disciplinary nexus drawing together students, faculty, and external partners while aligning collaborative facilities, resources, tools, and technologies that will enable it to thrive as a living-learning environment. In this session, we will share explicit, purposeful strategies for how to administer shared academic arts and campus life programs that foster interdisciplinary inquiry.

Institutions Mentioned: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Planning, Innovation Center, Learning Environments, Student Housing

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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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