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

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Blog Post

Published
September 5, 2023

What If the Building We Work in Could Make Us Healthier?

By: Lisa Jasinski, PhD, University of Texas at San Antonio

During the recent 2023 Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) 2023 Annual Conference in Cleveland, Niraj Dangoria, Stanford University’s associate dean of facilities planning, and management, and Paul Woolford and Julia Cooper of HOK, reported how they used integrated planning to construct the Center for Academic Medicine for the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Institutions Mentioned: Stanford University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Academic Facility, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Health and Wellness, Medical / Allied Health Facility

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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

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Conference Presentations

Published
October 4, 2021

2021 Southern Regional Conference | October 2021

Rejuvenation

Investing in Existing Residence Halls for Bright Futures

By: Lynne Deninger, CannonDesign | Linda Kasper, University of Georgia | Marisa Nemcik, CannonDesign

In this session, we'll provide you with practical strategies that you can apply at your institution as you explore the possibilities of renovating existing student housing facilities.

Abstract: Almost every institution has existing residence halls that they could upgrade for a fraction of the cost of building new. As institutions seek to meet student housing needs, they should consider renovating existing buildings as a viable strategy for creating state-of-the-art facilities. Taking this path can extend building life, attract students, and save capital. In this session, we'll provide you with practical strategies that you can apply at your institution as you explore the possibilities of renovating existing student housing facilities.

Institutions Mentioned: University of Georgia
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Renovation, SCUP 2021 Southern Regional Conference, Student Housing

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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

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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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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

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Conference Presentations

Published
July 14, 2019

2019 Annual Conference | July 2019

Issues in Workplace Design (and How Innovative Universities Address Them)

By: Niraj Dangoria, Damon A. Sheppard, Evan Yassky

Abstract: On the average campus, office space accounts for more square footage than classrooms, instructional and research labs combined. Accordingly, its design and utilization can have significant campus impact. This panel discussion addresses the challenges that institutions face when rethinking their approach to workplace design. We will provide guidance on planning, programming, and design strategies to align workplaces with educational mission, respond to fiscal pressures, and compete for talent.

Institutions Mentioned: George Washington University, Stanford University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, SCUP 2019 Annual Conference

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Conference Presentations

Published
July 14, 2019

2019 Annual Conference | July 2019

Decarbonize Your Campus Through Building Electrification

By: David Phillips, Scott Shell, Joseph C. Stagner

Abstract: The path to carbon neutrality is clear: electrify everything and procure renewable energy. How to get to 100% electric power is less clear. Stanford University has been focused on this challenge, committing to all-electric buildings by June 2019. This session will give attendees a clear road map and strategies for converting the energy your buildings use from gas to electric—whether the energy heats the building, glass beakers, or dinner.

Institutions Mentioned: Stanford University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Carbon Neutral, Energy Efficiency and Conservation, Energy Infrastructure, Facilities Planning, SCUP 2019 Annual Conference

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Planning, Utopia, and Heritage in the Design of Campuses

The University of Virginia as a Paradigm

By: Pablo Campos, Richard Wilson

The fusion between utopia and planning has influenced both the interior of university enclosures and the outside.

From Volume 47 Number 3 | April–June 2019

Abstract: Human education is an experience that has a spatial dimension. To optimize the design/architectural component as a factor of excellence, historically, the coordination of two attitudes at universities has been a vital heritage: utopia and planning. Utopia is the energy used by universities to conceive and evolve their physical establishments. By the process of planning, campuses have undergone a long-term evolution of their built heritage, focusing on those where the hallmark is their human scale. This article illustrates briefly the application of these concepts in five cases, which have been culturally recognized as UNESCO World Heritage sites. However, it explores in depth one of those: The University of Virginia.

Institutions Mentioned: University of Virginia, University of Bologna, Stanford University, University of Alcalá, University of Coimbra
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Campus Master Planning, Facilities Design

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