Learning Resources

Abstract: With thirty-three million square feet of space across twenty-three campuses, facility management is a complex process at Pennsylvania State University. In order to facilitate a return to campus post-COVID, Penn State leveraged technology and cross-functional teams to successfully plan and implement safe social distancing measures across various rooms types using a decentralized management model. Come learn from the successes and failures of a state-wide, multi-campus integrated planning and implementation effort to ensure the health and safety of the Penn State community.

Abstract: This is the third in a series of webinars, “Less Talk, More Action: Tactical Topics to Return to Campus,” jointly sponsored by SCUP’s North Atlantic Region, BSA, and their BSA/SCUP College + University Roundtable focused on the impact of COVID-19 on campuses.

Abstract: We are all trying to figure out how to safely bring students back to classrooms for the fall semester. A discussion about 6-foot physical distancing layout modifications in existing classrooms, reduced occupancy yields when dealing with fixed seating versus movable seating, creating instructor zones, creating alternate instruction spaces.

Abstract: This article draws on two projects funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation concerning the ways colleges and universities can support the legitimate sharing of digital learning resources for scholarly use. The 2001-03 Visual Image User Study (VIUS) assessed the scholarly needs of digital image users-faculty, staff, and students. That study led to the 2003-06 development of LionShare, an authenticated peer-to-peer network for a variety of e-learning resources, including digital images. This article highlights the assessment aspects of those projects. The article is intended for anyone interested in the planning of systems for the management of e-learning resources in higher education.

Abstract: Statistics demonstrate that our present land use and consumption patterns present the challenge of meeting contemporary needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Higher education has a special obligation to answer this challenge because it plays a role in producing the leaders, policy makers, and citizens of the world, and it uses a large share of resources to do so. To meet this challenge, sustainable practices and paradigms must permeate colleges and universities, from curricula to physical plant to leadership and institutional policies. This overview of the articles in this theme issue discusses methods for incorporating sustainability into higher education across a wide array of institutional realms.

Abstract: Critics of strategic planning question whether it is a useful tool or a counterproductive management fad. This article reviews the experience of a university that has one of higher education’s longest continuous experiences with a strategic planning process and places it in the context of the literature on higher education planning. The article concludes that a long-term commitment to strategic planning—clearly defined in its broad parameters but flexible and adaptive in its details—can be productive.

Abstract: One of the major issues in strategic planning is moving the academic strategic plan from planning to implementation. This article suggests that there are several effective implementation methods: using the budget, using participation, using force, establishing goals and key performance indicators, working within the human resource management system, using the reward system, using faculty and staff development, working with institutional culture, working with or around tradition, developing and using change champions, and building on systems that are ready for or are easily adaptable to strategic change.