Learning Resources

Conference Presentations

Published
March 22, 2024

Support Your Mission Through Data-informed Capital Investment

By: Michael Glaros, CannonDesign | Paul Mills, CannonDesign | Kerry Norberg, Montgomery College

By right-sizing course offerings, classrooms, and buildings, planners can drive incremental improvements that help to advance campus culture.

Abstract: By right-sizing course offerings, classrooms, and buildings, planners can drive incremental improvements that help to advance campus culture. We’ll demonstrate how to leverage data on course enrollment, classroom utilization, and learning trends to inform strategic investments in capital improvement, curriculum development, and recruitment. This session will uncover ways of making progress on campus by addressing issues related to enrollment changes and student activity while navigating lean capital funding conditions.

Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Capital Funding, Data, Facilities Assessment, Facilities Funding, Space Assessment

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Non-Member Price:
$50

Financial Planning for Central Utility Plant Decarbonization

Divide and Conquer the Lift Across Different Funding Options

By: Andrew Honeyman, BSME, and Paul Graves, BSME

Vital stakeholder feedback and consensus from various university departments reveal the proper approach to building issues. Institutions such as the University of North Dakota used technical planning to produce well-informed financial modeling and right-sized financial plans.

From Volume 52 Number 2 | January–March 2024

Abstract: Implementing central utility plant (CUP) decarbonization projects requires strategic financial planning, collaboration, and consensus-building from the entire university community. This article describes gathering support from facilities management, executive staff, and lawmakers through technical and financial charrettes. Learn how technical planning produces well-informed financial modeling and right-sized financial plans, and how shared planning between design teams and facility planners creates tailored funding options, including IRA incentives, to fund decarbonization.

Institutions Mentioned: University of North Dakota, Kentucky State University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Alignment, Carbon Neutral, Energy Infrastructure, Engaging Stakeholders, Facilities Funding, Facilities Planning, Public-Private Partnerships (P3), Sustainability (Environmental)

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The Stories in These Walls

Integrated Planning Throughout Capital Projects Can Fuel Donor Engagement and Enhance Stewardship

By: John Roberson, MBA, and Toby Marlatt, BA

Cross-functional teams at the University of Wyoming, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and University of North Dakota effectively used storytelling techniques to position donors within the narrative of the universities’ missions and strategic plans.

From Volume 52 Number 2 | January–March 2024

Abstract: Engaging donors at the planning stage of a capital project is a critical step in the campaign’s success. This article describes the use of storytelling techniques in donor outreach at three universities. We outline how cross-functional teams, involving campus planners and architects, university development and marketing and communications staff, and consultant firms, collaboratively planned and implemented donor engagement techniques. A story-oriented integrated project team enhanced philanthropy and stewardship by focusing on student and research outcomes, donor anecdotes, and sketches or conceptual renderings while positioning the donors themselves within the narrative of the university’s mission and strategic plan.

Institutions Mentioned: University of Wyoming, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of North Dakota
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Academic Facility, Advancement Planning, Business School Facility, Capital Funding, Engaging Stakeholders, Facilities Design, Facilities Funding, Facilities Planning

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Regionalism, Ecology, and Field-Based Learning

Partnerships Broaden Study Opportunities

By: Josh Harrold, BArch, BFA, AIA

In the rural and remote heart of the Ozark Mountains, Missouri State University and its Ozarks Education Center leverage the unique characteristics of the region to create a setting that supports hands-on active learning.

From Volume 51 Number 4 | July–September 2023

Abstract: Missouri State University’s Ozarks Education Center, in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, provides a case study for outdoor, field-based, and architectural regionalism education. It offers unparalleled student opportunities for tailored regional learning experiences and research options, while fostering partnerships with external organizations outside of the main campus environment. In this article, we share how being true to the region’s historical architecture and ecology, especially in undervalued and isolated locations, and incorporating site-specific approaches in a remote setting support off-the-grid learning in the post-COVID academic landscape.

Institutions Mentioned: Missouri State University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Active Learning Environments, External Collaboration / Partnerships, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Landscape / Open Space, Learning Environments, Placemaking, Rural Campus, Science / Engineering Facility

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Example Plans

Published
January 24, 2023

Strategic Plan

Private Master’s College or University (Wisconsin, United States)

This overview describes the strategic plan’s five high-level strategies and a few tactics for each.

Planning Types: Strategic Planning
Resource Types: Strategic Plan
Tags: External Collaboration / Partnerships, Goals, Medical / Allied Health Education, New Program or Department, Workforce Development

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You Belong Here

Plan for and Design Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Campus Spaces

By: Shannon Dowling, MArch, AIA, LEEDAP

Many marginalized student populations don’t see themselves as higher education material. Creating places on campus that reaffirm to them that they belong is vital.

From Volume 51 Number 1 | October–December 2022

Abstract: When carefully considered and thoughtfully planned, physical campus space has the power to reinforce an institution’s values around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Institutions Mentioned: Virginia Commonwealth University, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, Ryerson University, Chapman University, Bennett College
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Active Learning Environments, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Health and Wellness, Informal Learning Environments, Landscape / Open Space, Learning Environments, Original Research, Placemaking, Student Experience, Underserved Students

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Smart Building, Smart Campus

By: Angela Foss, Autodesk (previously of Southern New Hampshire University)

This is a SCUP Fellow Research Project Final Report for the 2019–2020 program. This report explores the hypothesis that user-centered design would better address STEM student needs and could increase the likelihood of a broader adoption of remote labs.

Abstract: “Will innovative environments like a smart building expand STEM education and reach more underrepresented groups? If technology can support remote work, then why haven’t the previous proofs of concept become fully adopted?” The author pursued these questions through her SCUP Fellows research, exploring the hypothesis that user-centered design would better address STEM student needs and could increase the likelihood of a broader adoption of remote labs. Although the COVID-19 pandemic required a hard pivot in her research plan, she was able to leverage the world's new focus on remote activities and work with students to design a prototype mobile application for a digital, interactive twin of a STEM building on campus.

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Free

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Scaling Active Learning Classrooms

Adopt 11 Best Practices to Transform Existing Spaces to Support Student Success

By: Sharon Beaudry, JD, SPHR

A large-scale study uncovered factors that led to successful scaling of active learning spaces and pedagogical approaches in colleges and universities.

From Volume 50 Number 3 | April–June 2022

Abstract: Active learning has been a growing trend in higher education for decades based on its positive impact on student learning and success. Colleges and universities have invested resources into expanding this teaching approach by using active learning classrooms (ALCs). But why have some institutions been successful at rapidly growing their ALCs and learning spaces, while others have struggled? This article, focusing on the higher education arena, summarizes the best practices from a large-scale study that uncovered factors that led to successful scaling of learning spaces and pedagogical approaches in colleges and universities.

Institutions Mentioned: Oregon Institute of Technology
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Active Learning Environments, Alignment, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Laboratory Facility, Learning Environments, Original Research, Science / Engineering Facility, Teaching and Learning

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Getting in the eGame

Esports Streaming Gives the University of Kentucky a New Way to Grow Revenue and Recruit Students

By: Michael Stewart, BS, and Heath Price, MS

The University of Kentucky understood the importance of technology in preparing students for the digital world. With public-private partnerships, it sought opportunities to be an industry leader in leveraging that capacity for its students, faculty, staff, and the community.

From Volume 50 Number 2 | January–March 2022

Abstract: The University of Kentucky (UK) and the University of Kentucky Esports Club worked together to establish the University of Kentucky Esports Lounge. Students were surveyed on their gaming needs, and the resulting wish list (i.e., equipment selection, space configuration, furniture, etc.) fed into the decision-making process by all constituents. The project budget was derived by a larger construction project at the University that focused on student recruitment, community, and connection to the non-student demographic. The UK team ultimately planned and launched the custom facility to meet users’ particular needs—while finding a way for the University to produce an additional revenue stream.

Institutions Mentioned: University of Kentucky
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Funding, Facilities Planning, Mixed-Use, New Program or Department, Planning Processes, Public-Private Partnerships (P3), Recreational Facility, Shared Facilities, Student Life / Student Affairs, Technology

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Webinar Recordings

Published
December 9, 2021

How Assessment Can Improve Your Campus’s Active Learning Spaces

By: David M. Zaiser, HDR | Shannon Dowling, Ayers Saint Gross | Alice Donlan, University of Maryland | Hilary Gossett, University of Maryland | Jeffrey Ashley, Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University)

Come join us for an engaging and interactive session that will provide you with critical, campus-tested planning tools that you can use in your own classroom assessment to improve your campus learning environment.

Abstract: Higher education planners recognize the crucial role that active learning spaces play in improving student outcomes, but identifying the specific characteristics that make these environments most beneficial for student success is still an evolving process. Representatives from two institutions—one private, the other public—will share their experiences and highlight the planning tools they use to assess active learning spaces aimed at powering student gains. Come join us for an engaging and interactive session that will provide you with critical, campus-tested planning tools that you can use in your own classroom assessment to improve your campus learning environment. This webinar was brought to you by the SCUP Mid-Atlantic region.

Institutions Mentioned: Thomas Jefferson University, University of Maryland-College Park
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Active Learning Environments, Analyzing Stakeholders, Assessment / Analytics, Facilities Assessment, Facilities Planning, Learning Environments, Space Assessment

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Non-Member Price:
$65

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