Learning Resources

Abstract:

This keynote panel is a collaborative exploration of forward-thinking strategies for STEM outreach, education, and application. Come join the panelists for an engaging discussion about their current experience in building and running facilities in K-12 schools, higher education, and industry as well as how their strategies for flexibility are bridging these different phases in the STEM continuum.

Abstract: This session will discuss how Michigan State University re-envisioned 140 acres through an integrated planning and exploratory design process that required continual adaptation. When building a vision for large land parcel redevelopment as a mixed-use, vibrant district, it is important to have an adaptive planning process with strong leadership and inclusive dialogue. We will show you how to see your institution's land from a new perspective, apply fresh ideas about mixed-use campus space, and use an integrated planning process to build consensus in times of change.

Abstract: Interdisciplinary scientific research is the new normal in academia. Campus planning for interdisciplinary research requires special tools and analytics that align the needs of increasingly diverse research environments with existing facilities capabilities and new characterizations of research neighborhoods. To remain relevant within the world-wide scientific community, campuses must free research space planning from traditional boundaries in order to promote collaborative synergies. This session will introduce new analytical assessment tools, organizational principles, and planning strategies supporting interdisciplinary research. Come learn how to create an open-ended, actionable, and living planning document that ensures long-term relevance and viability.

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.

Abstract: Today, the amount of space devoted to research at research universities exceeds that of classrooms and class laboratories. This research space portfolio presents important policy and management challenges. As stewards of this portfolio, universities must address issues of funding the construction of research facilities, equipping and maintaining them, allocating and accounting for space used for research, and managing, in broadest terms, the physical and administrative infrastructure in which research is conducted. As this article illustrates, managing the balance between the growing demand for and the supply of research space is complicated. To address the issues of research space, universities have developed a variety of space management methods to fit their unique research missions, priorities, and operational culture. This article provides important insights into this little studied aspect of higher education space planning. The article is an overview of research space management across the U. S. on general campuses and in health science centers. It is based on interviews with senior administrators in selected research universities conducted specifically for this study, information about research space management available on university documents on the Internet, and on the work of Ira Fink and Associates, Inc. in programming research facilities on a multitude of campuses nationwide.

Abstract: Universities and colleges across the country are faced with growth in the campus population and the loss of surface parking lots for new buildings. The response of many institutions is to build new garages with the assumption that parking demand ratios will remain the same. Such an approach, however, can be extremely expensive—upwards of $2,000 per net new space annually. In many cases, a mix of parking and demand reduction programs—such as shuttles, bicycle and pedestrian improvements, and financial incentives not to drive—can accommodate growth at a lower cost per trip. A balanced approach will also tend to support other goals, from improving town-gown relations to maintaining debt capacity. Demand management strategies have been employed by institutions for many years. However, it is less common for a cost-benefit analysis to be undertaken comparing them with new parking construction. Using examples from universities in California and Colorado, this article demonstrates a methodology to inform basic decisions on the amount of parking required to cater to campus growth, which can be incorporated into campus master planning.

Abstract: Although some educators think that e-learning is a transient fad, we argue that, far from disappearing, it has gone mainstream, and is quickly becoming part of the everyday fabric of traditional higher education institutions. However, contrary to another widely-held view, e-learning is not just fully online education, but rather encompasses a large set of teaching options that institutions must adopt and adapt. A successful venture into e-learning, therefore, should begin not with technology decisions, but with a strategic planning process that allows an institution to choose the e-learning alternatives that best meet their vision and business goals.

Abstract: Colleges and universities are expanding at unprecedented rates, creating new hazards for our increasingly fragile natural environments. Higher education administrators and planners are finding that campus development, like suburban sprawl, can disrupt functioning natural systems and destroy the natural, historical, and cultural fabric of the place. To address environmental issues and new regulations, proactive institutions of higher education are taking the lead as stewards of the land by including an environmental component in their campus master plans. An environmental approach to planning incorporates ecological information into campus master plans to ensure a sustainable campus landscape that is beautiful, durable, and distinctive. These Environmental Master Plans are best developed using a democratic process, considering each site’s unique essential environmental resources, the constraints of the regulatory environment, and a continuing education and outreach program. A case study of an Environmental Master Plan at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill illustrates how such a plan was created at one of the nation’s oldest and largest college campuses.