Learning Resources

Responsive Design

Purposeful Planning Can Be Inclusive for Neurodiverse Students and Support the Well-Being of All

By: Shannon Dowling, MArch, AIA, LEEDAP, and James A. Baumann, MA

By incorporating student choice and voice into the planning and allowing autonomy in scale and adaptability, campuses can provide the environment where all students are most comfortable participating in any given activity.

From Volume 52 Number 1 | October–December 2023

Abstract: Research has shown that neurodivergent students report a lower sense of belonging and are less likely to feel welcomed, accepted, and like they belong on campus than their neurotypical peers. Considering this, a host of barriers to participation and belonging can be in effect across a college or university. While there are a few campus offices and departments that might address different aspects of these concerns independently, the most successful results occur when these groups—along with outside contractors such as design partners—work in strategic symphony.

This article is co-presented by the Association of College & University Housing Officers – International (ACUHO-I) and the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) and is being published in publications for both organizations.

Institutions Mentioned: Colorado School of Mines, Denison University, Lewis & Clark College, Montana State University, Ohio State University-Main Campus, The State University of New York at Albany, University of Georgia, University of Oregon
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Health and Wellness, Informal Learning Environments, Learning Environments, Placemaking, Student Housing

Member Price:
Free

Non-Member Price:
Free

Walking for Wellness

“Feeling Maps” Can Help Planners to Create Campus Routes that Improve Student Well-Being

By: David Spooner, ASLA, PLA

Planners at the University of Georgia used “feeling maps” to help identify and create healthier connections for faculty, students, and staff traversing between campus destinations.

From Volume 51 Number 2 | January–March 2023

Abstract: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, an effort to address physical and mental well-being on campuses has become a focus. One overlooked opportunity to improve student welfare lies beneath their feet: enhancing campus walkability. Planners at the University of Georgia used “feeling maps” to help identify and create healthier connections for faculty, students, and staff traversing between campus destinations.

Institutions Mentioned: University of Georgia
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Health and Wellness, Landscape / Open Space, Original Research, Placemaking, Student Experience

Member Price:
Free | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

You Belong Here

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

Member Price:
Free | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Conference Recordings

Published
April 30, 2021

2021 Pacific Regional Conference | April–June 2021

Mindful Redesign for New and Effective Learning Environments

By: Alice Kimm, John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK) | Collette Creppell, Chapman University | Heidi Creighton, BuroHappold Engineering | Mia Lehrer, Studio-MLA | Julie Hendricks, University of California-Santa Barbara | Jennifer Milliron, LMN Architects | Helen Chu, Stanford University | Leesa Beck, University of California-Santa Barbara | David Gier, University of Michigan | Royce Smith, Montana State University – Bozeman | Timothy Waters, Sextant Group / NV5 Engineering & Technology

Join us to discuss what our campuses are planning for the immediate and distant future of teaching and learning.

Abstract: This session will focus on how changes in academic planning—accelerated in large part due to COVID-19—are resulting in new physical and virtual frameworks for learning. These range from enhanced online platforms to flexible hybrid environments, including the reappropriation and redesign of ‘found spaces,’ such as valuable and underutilized exterior zones on our existing campuses. Join us to discuss what our campuses are planning for the immediate and distant future of teaching and learning.

Institutions Mentioned: Chapman University, Montana State University – Bozeman, Stanford University, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Planning Types: Academic Planning, Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Flexible Learning Spaces, Learning Environments, Online Learning, SCUP 2021 Pacific Regional Conference, Teaching and Learning

Member Price:
$65 | Login

Non-Member Price:
$119

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.

Member Price:
Free

Non-Member Price:
Free

Relic or Relevant

Is Stanford University’s Main Quad Still a Place for Community Engagement?

By: Sapna Marfatia, Maggie Burgett, and Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain

The university’s founders specified that the space that would become the Main Quad, along with its buildings, should facilitate human discourse and connection. Has it reached across generations to remain an active place for student life?

From Volume 48 Number 1 | October–December 2019

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.

Institutions Mentioned: Stanford University, University of Oxford
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Landscape / Open Space

Member Price:
Free | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2014

Enhancing Campus Sustainability Through SITES and Socially Equitable Design

By: David Spooner

The Socially Equitable category represents a unique and often missed opportunity for academic institutions to further their commitment to sustainable practices.

From Volume 42 Number 4 | July–September 2014

Abstract: Sustainability guidelines for campuses typically focus on the environmental, structural, and organizational aspects of colleges and universities. The Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) expands the definition of campus sustainability by including “Socially Equitable” design guidelines that consider how people interact with and within campus landscapes. Landscapes that afford (1) mental restoration and (2) social interaction become sustainable under the SITES definition. This study conducted at Agnes Scott College and The University of Georgia tests the criteria associated with these guidelines to determine their relevance and impact. Through mapping exercises, direct observation, and a questionnaire survey, data were collected from 120 students to determine which “sustainable” criteria are relevant to campus landscapes. The findings confirm the criteria listed in the SITES guidelines and introduce additional criteria to consider for enhancing Socially Equitable design standards on campus.

Institutions Mentioned: Agnes Scott College, University of Georgia
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Landscape / Open Space, Original Research, Sustainability (Environmental)

Member Price:
Free | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning Types

Challenges