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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 17, 2025

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Co-Locate and Consolidate to Create Connected Campuses

Grow in Place Rather Than Add More Space Where Students Will Succeed

By: Elliot Felix, MArch

You can share spaces, support services, staffing, and technology systems within your institution and with external partners. This reduces costs while improving outcomes such as retention, graduation, and career placement rates.

From Volume 53 Number 3 | April–June 2025

Abstract: Colleges and universities have a traditional way to meet new needs. When there is a new research initiative, degree program, or student support function, institutions add space. Despite good intentions, their siloed structures, poor strategic planning, and history of continuous expansion mean that institutions adapt by adding. The result: Campuses are overbuilt and underutilized. Instead of shared spaces and seamless, supportive experiences, we’re left with sprawling campuses and spiraling costs. With enrollments, research funding, and our climate all changing, it’s time for a new model and a new mantra: Grow in place rather than add more space.

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
June 17, 2025

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Planning for ‘Passivhaus’

The University of Cambridge, King’s College Addresses Student Well-Being with Energy-Efficient Graduate Housing

By: Laurie Hallows, MSc, and Matthew Traub, MArch

King’s College, Cambridge required new postgraduate housing to support its growth plans.

From Volume 53 Number 3 | April–June 2025

Abstract: King’s College, Cambridge required new postgraduate housing to support its growth plans. The design team collaborated closely with college stakeholders, including the prospective residents, to research all aspects of the proposals—brief, spaces, structure, and services—early in the process. That research provided a comparison of environmental methods that ranged from a regulatory baseline to a certified Passivhaus approach. The holistic “fabric-first” standard delivers highly efficient, low-energy buildings with high-quality construction and occupant comfort. The metrics fed into a cost-benefit analysis of capital cost vis-a-vis energy reduction to determine the long-term value of each approach.

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Conference Recordings

Published
November 2, 2022

2022 Mid-Atlantic Regional Symposium | November

Reckoning with Entangled Histories

Higher Education and Slavery

By: Fanchon (Chon) Glover, College of William and Mary | Amber Hall, College of William and Mary | Samuel Hayes, College of William and Mary | Ben Carton, George Mason University | Wendi Manuel Scott, George Mason University | Cathy Pinskey, George Mason University | Dereck J. Rovaris, Sr., St. Mary's College of Maryland | Maurice Schlesinger, St. Mary's College of Maryland | Louis Nelson, University of Virginia | Alice Raucher, University of Virginia | Stephanie Wolfgang, Perkins&Will

In this symposium, four institutions will share their approaches to these complicated questions and how they’re continuing the conversation around the legacy of slavery on their campuses.
Abstract: American higher education institutions have a long, complex history with slavery that shouldn’t be ignored. Reckoning with these historical ties—from slave-owning namesakes to the enslaved laborers who constructed campus buildings—generates difficult questions for colleges and universities:
  • How do we honor those who were enslaved?
  • How do we recognize our role in the history of slavery as a means of learning from the past to guide our future?
In this symposium, four institutions will share their approaches to these complicated questions and how they’re continuing the conversation around the legacy of slavery on their campuses.

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Conference Recordings

Published
June 16, 2021

2021 Mid-Atlantic Symposium | June 2021

Integrating Place and Pedagogy to Foster Active Learning

What Works

By: Jeffrey Ashley, Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University) | Alice Donlan, University of Maryland | Shannon Dowling, Ayers Saint Gross | Kate Drabinski, University of Maryland Baltimore County | Hilary Gossett, University of Maryland | Richard Minturn, University of Virginia | John Notis, University of Virginia | Wynne Stuart, University of Virginia | Nancy Sturm, NV5 | Steven Anderson, UMBC Division of Information Technology

Planners from four universities will explore how active learning environments are evolving on their campuses, leading to more engaging learning experiences and improving student outcomes.
Abstract: Over the past year the pandemic has brought many challenges to higher education as well as opportunities to shape future learning spaces. Planners from four universities will explore how active learning environments are evolving on their campuses, leading to more engaging learning experiences and improving student outcomes. Come join us for a lively discussion about how space optimization, thoughtful furniture selection, and strategic technology implementation all contribute to the design of “the perfect active learning classroom”.

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Conference Recordings

Published
March 10, 2021

2021 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference | March 2021

Centering Wellbeing and Whole Student Health on Campus

By: Lauren Shirley, VMDO Architects | Christopher Holstege, University of Virginia | Tom Roberts, University of Richmond | Bridget Weikel | Jim Kovach, VMDO Architects

Join us as we take a deep dive into three universities’ recent campus projects aimed at promoting student health and share takeaways at critical junctures of the integrated planning processes.
Abstract: Today's students are facing unique health challenges, which means that next-generation student health facilities must maximize accessibility and deepen service offerings that are attuned to student needs and behaviors. In this session, a panel featuring three different universities will discuss how they're reorganizing campus space and resources to prioritize student health and wellbeing. Mapping wellbeing onto different types of campus space is an important and timely development in campus planning. Join us as we take a deep dive into three recent campus projects aimed at promoting student health and share takeaways at critical junctures of the integrated planning processes.

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Report

Published
November 23, 2020

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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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Webinar Recordings

Published
June 24, 2020

Coffee Chat: Planning for Fall Revenue

By: Melody Bianchetto, Vice President for Finance, University of Virginia | Larry Goldstein, President, Campus Strategies LLC

The pandemic changed the higher ed landscape, and as we look ahead, this discussion will help you think through enrollment challenges, discuss tuition increases, examine current perceptions of the value of an online education, and consider financial aid for fall 2020.
Abstract: The pandemic changed the higher ed landscape, and as we look ahead, this discussion will help you think through enrollment challenges, discuss tuition increases, examine current perceptions of the value of an online education, and consider financial aid for fall 2020.

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Conference Recordings

Published
March 16, 2020

2020 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference | March 2020

Creating Empathy-Driven Design Collaborations with Virtual Reality

By: Amy Eichenberger, Senior Project Manager, University of Virginia | Lauren Shirley, Architect, VMDO Architects | Matthew Trowbridge, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Public Health and Associate Research Director for the, University of Virginia School of Medicine

We will demonstrate how we incorporated VR into stakeholder engagement for the University of Virginia's Student Health and Wellness Center to address health outcomes, promote student learning, and collaborate with interdisciplinary partners across campus.
Abstract: Multiple entities within institutions often have competing values, but virtual reality (VR) simulation can help overcome this challenge by creating an accessible platform for building a collective vision. We will demonstrate how we incorporated VR into stakeholder engagement for the University of Virginia's Student Health and Wellness Center to address health outcomes, promote student learning, and collaborate with interdisciplinary partners across campus. Encouraging stakeholders to virtually test a space's impact on health and learning will help you to advance decision-making, leverage diverse expertise, and capture empathy-driven insight to create a more efficient and intelligent design process at your institution.

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Conference Presentations

Published
July 14, 2019

2019 Annual Conference | July 2019

A Survival Guide to Planning and Executing Phased Renovations

By: Laura A. Cruickshank, Roger N. Goldstein, Sarah Stanton

Abstract: Renovating campus buildings that are partially occupied is a frequent challenge. Planning and executing an efficient phased renovation optimizes resource use and minimizes disruption. This presentation will focus on lessons learned in three case studies of phased renovations, comprising mid-20th century science and humanities buildings as well as student housing. You will learn about best practices from projects across multiple building types as well as examine planning methodologies, design processes, and technical challenges for broader applicability.

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Report

Published
June 1, 2019

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Institutional Decisions of How to Carry On After a Campus Tragedy

An Examination of Campus-Based Memorial Structures and Commemorative Spaces

By: Mahauganee Shaw Bonds, PhD

This is a SCUP Fellow Research Project Final Report for the 2017–2018 program. This research project focuses on physical memorials that are the result of a tragic moment in institutional history.
Abstract: After a campus tragedy, the first steps for the community toward settling into the new normal often entail working through the gravity of recent events. This work includes a need for internal reflection, external processing, and collective healing. Campus communities engaged in this process often find a way to memorialize the events that have shaken them and to honor the lives of any community members lost to tragedy. This research project focuses on physical memorials that are the result of a tragic moment in institutional history.

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