Learning Resources

Abstract: On-campus childcare will be crucial not only in allowing faculty and staff to return to campus post-COVID but also in recruiting and retaining the next generation of campus leaders. This session will focus on leveraging on-campus childcare, an overlooked but integral piece of a successful integrated strategy for returning to a robust in-person campus experience. Join our subject matter experts to find out how you can lead and participate in strategic planning around this critical work/life issue at your institution.

Abstract: Public universities have a responsibility to deliver high-quality education safely to a large number of students. Planning effective instructional delivery while minimizing transmission of COVID is a timely, complex example of balancing disparate educational needs. We'll discuss how the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a public flagship university with a large residential population, changed instructional delivery through a process of design, implementation, and evaluation across academics, educational, and residential spaces. Join us to gain insight on our post-pandemic approach, encompassing planning, execution, and monitoring based on public health guidance, institutional needs, physical space, and academic requirements.

Abstract: A key component of student success is socialization. In this session, we'll explore ideas on how to engage students through virtual learning and how the physical campus can supplement those socialization efforts. Panelists from three different institutions will discuss the past, present, and future state of their campuses' built and virtual environments and how they impact student success. Join us to learn how you can employ virtual student engagement and socialization practices—including how to leverage facilities—to enhance the student experience on your campus.

Abstract: As the chief academic officer of the University of Massachusetts system and as a labor market sociologist, Katherine Newman will provide valuable insight on how global changes are affecting the academic, research, and public service mission of higher education. The current public health crisis—as well as other factors such as automation and social change—is accelerating efforts to attract, educate, and retain a range of high achieving, diverse, and unskilled populations of learners. Come learn how your institution can provide experiential learning and hybrid course delivery options that meet the needs of students and employers who are experiencing multiple tectonic shifts in their industries.

Abstract: A key component of student success is socialization. In this session, we'll explore ideas on how to engage students through virtual learning and how the physical campus can supplement those socialization efforts. Panelists from three different institutions will discuss the past, present, and future state of their campuses' built and virtual environments and how they impact student success. Join us to learn how you can employ virtual student engagement and socialization practices—including how to leverage facilities—to enhance the student experience on your campus.

Abstract: Campus planners are tasked with creating 21st century learning environments, moving towards carbon neutrality, and repairing buildings that are near the end of their useful lives. Transformative reuse addresses these issues. With creative design and programming, under-utilized campus buildings from all eras can be transformed into sustainable, thriving, innovative learning environments that align with current and future needs. We'll share recent examples of existing buildings that were transformed for new use and discuss the connection between carbon and building reuse.

Abstract: The path to a healthy, just, and sustainable future for all current and future generations of humans and other biological species will require a transformative change in thinking values and action by all individuals and institutions in the next two decades. The institutions within higher education bear a moral responsibility to increase the awareness, knowledge, skills, and values needed to change the collective mind-set. Because it prepares most of society’s professionals and leaders, higher education plays a critical but often-overlooked role in making this vision a reality. This article explores how higher education would model sustainability as a fully integrated community intricately connecting learning, research, operations, purchasing investments, and work with local and regional communities. The envisioned framework for higher education will result in the interdisciplinary, systemic learning and practice needed to provide the educational experience for graduates to lead society on a sustainable path. It provides several examples of colleges and universities that have made some of these changes with an emphasis on curriculum connected to other college and university functions. It also suggests a new role for college and university planners in this transformation and provides other sources of information on the changes that are happening in higher education.

Abstract: Drawing on recent survey data from the National Wildlife Federation and other publications, this article explains what an environmental management system is and identifies its components; examines how environmental management systems have been applied and adapted to higher education settings; reports on trends in implementation; and illustrates how the environmental management system can help in planning green campuses. It addresses such issues as environmental policy, training, compliance, performance evaluation, staffing, and assessment within the higher education context.

Abstract: Green buildings offer many compelling advantages over their conventional counterparts—increased educational performance, lower energy costs, and lower environmental impact, to name a few—so green buildings should be easier to develop. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Several strategies are important to avoid a protracted process. Develop a set of clear environmental performance goals (buildings as pedagogical tools, climate-neutral operations, maximized human performance), use Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED™) as a gauge of performance, and use the project to reform the campus building process. All of these steps need to involve a range of participants—students, faculty, administration, and facilities staff—to achieve the best results.

Abstract: Sustainable management of college and university campuses enhances learning and exposes students to the challenges and opportunities they will face upon graduation. There are many technologies and measures that can lead colleges and universities toward a more sustainable path. Taken together, the contributions in this issue of the journal clearly demonstrate that it is possible for colleges and universities to meet the needs of their current and future generations of students. But the question remains whether they will be able to meet those needs and do so in a manner that does not prevent others, outside their institutions, from meeting their future needs. This is really about institutional change, and without a shift in personal and institutional values these options will not become the default practice instead of the optional alternative. Moving higher education onto a sustainable trajectory requires that administrators, trustees and staff, faculty, and students participate in a transparent process of setting goals and implementing them. Planners have the opportunity to become the true visionaries of higher education who help faculty and administrators combine teaching, research, and campus management into a higher level of learning for our students as our example leads society toward a sustainable future.