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

Member Price:
Free

Non-Member Price:
Free

Conference Recordings

Published
March 18, 2021

2021 North Atlantic Regional Conference | March 2021

Tour | Wentworth Institute: Center for Engineering, Innovation & Sciences

By: Tom Chung, Leers Weinzapfel Associates | Shankar Krishnan, Wentworth Institute | Elizabeth Stifel, Boston Civic Design Commission | David Wahlstrom, Wentworth Institute of Technology

Join us for a virtual tour of Wentworth Institute’s newest academic building, the Center for Engineering, Innovation & Sciences (CEIS)—its ground-breaking design was serves academic and social needs on campus as well as the wider, local community.

Abstract: Join us for a virtual tour of Wentworth Institute’s newest academic building, the Center for Engineering, Innovation & Sciences (CEIS).

The project team members from upper administration, faculty, the City of Boston, and the architect discuss key priorities ranging from academic and social to campus and the wider city and community, which led to the ground-breaking design. The building opened for classes just over a year before the pandemic hit and the presenters will discuss how the building use shifted to remote and hybrid learning as well as plans going forward.

Institutions Mentioned: Wentworth Institute of Technology
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: COVID-19, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Interdisciplinary Learning Environments, Learning Environments, Science / Engineering Facility, SCUP 2021 North Atlantic Regional Conference

Member Price:
$35 | Login

Non-Member Price:
$50

Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
April 1, 2018

The Library as Learning Commons

By: Derek Jones, Andrew Grote

Even in the digital age, the library plays a fundamental role in campus life and learning, particularly when it’s updated to meet the needs of 21st-century students and pedagogies.

From Volume 46 Number 3 | April–June 2018

Abstract: Following decades of decline in perceived status and value, the university library has found new life as a center of the knowledge economy, of collaborative learning, and of creative production. The challenge of updating the library mission for the digital age is further complicated when that library resides within a 1960s Brutalist concrete structure. The revitalization of the Douglas D. Schumann Library & Learning Commons at the Wentworth Institute of Technology illustrates the process of transforming a foreboding, bunker-like space into a modern, vibrant campus destination.

Institutions Mentioned: Wentworth Institute of Technology
Planning Types: Campus Planning, Library Planning
Tags: Academic Facility, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Learning Commons, Library, Library Planning

Member Price:
Free | Login

Member-only Resource

Join now to have access

Planning Types

Challenges