Learning Resources

Abstract: This article explores a methodology for assessing and managing the financial viability of private, tuition-dependent institutions as well as institutional tactics and strategies used to improve their financial strength. The resulting model will help institutions understand the trends and predictive value of key financial metrics directly impacting their liquidity and operations and how senior leadership can drive change. Institutional examples illustrate how to engage senior leadership in strategic decision-making that includes assessment of revenue growth and/or expense management.

Abstract: Higher Education Business Models Under Stress: Achieving Graceful Transitions in the Academy
by Melody Rose and Larry D. Large
AGP: Washington, DC: 2021
140 Pages
ISBN: 978-1-951635-12-1

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: Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of learning space is now an essential tool for institutions to align capital decisions with student performance. We will explore exemplary active-learning environments and the evaluation methodology we used to measure how these environments have elicited learning behaviors that foster student engagement. You will learn which aspects of the learning environment are important to measure, how to measure them, and how the collected data connects to metrics that matter to institutions.

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: Global society has “overshot” the long-term human carrying capacity of Earth. This unsustainable state is an emergent property of the systemic interaction of techno-industrial society as presently configured and the ecosphere. It cannot be corrected without fundamental changes to critical socio-cultural variables that determine the interaction. To the extent that higher education (re)produces the dominant cultural paradigm, it is a source of the problem. Universities must strive to reduce the ecological footprints of both their own operations and, more importantly, of the growth-oriented materialistic worldview they promote. Indeed, the real challenge for higher education is to help articulate an alternative life-sustaining worldview.