Learning Resources

Blog Post

Published
April 1, 2024

Navigating Student Success

‘Navigators’ Are Critical in Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Institution-Wide Initiative

By: Apryl Motley, CAE

To gain additional insight into how integrated planning to support student success can be a game changer, we turned to Paula Stossel, strategic advisor to the president for student success, and Amber Racchini, vice provost for student academic success, at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. They graciously accepted our invitation to address questions about their cross-functional effort to ensure a student-centered approach to delivery of support services at IUP.

Institutions Mentioned: Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus
Planning Types: Academic Planning, Student Affairs Planning
Tags: Alignment, Engaging Stakeholders, Organizational Change, Student Engagement, Student Experience, Student Retention, Student Services, Student Success, Student Support Services

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Example Plans

Published
August 8, 2023

Strategic Plan, Strategic Planning Website

Public Doctoral/Research University (Colorado, United States)

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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
June 30, 2023

Strategic Plan, Strategic Planning Website

Multiple Locations

Strategic plan for the university system developed by the state’s board of higher education.

Planning Types: Strategic Planning, Academic Planning
Resource Types: Strategic Plan, Strategic Planning Website
Tags: Attracting and Retaining Underrepresented Students, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Faculty Productivity, Goals, Governance, Measuring the Plan, Metrics, Racial Equity, Strategies and Tactics, Student Success, Workforce Development

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Tell Us What You Think

Smith College Drafted Its Master Landscape Plan Through Robust Stakeholder Engagement

By: Signe Nielsen, BS, BA, RLA, FASLA

More than 1,600 students and alumnae provided input through online mapping tools and in-person workshops. Staff and faculty were interviewed in person and via phone. And Instagram was used to reach 6,400 members of the campus community.

From Volume 51 Number 3 | April–June 2023

Abstract: Smith College commissioned MNLA to develop its 20-year Landscape Master Plan to address climate change impacts, inclusiveness, and pedagogy. The process was grounded in robust campus engagement over 18 months. More than 1,600 students and alumnae provided input through online mapping tools and in-person workshops that used cutouts and puzzles to reimagine the open spaces on campus. Staff and faculty were interviewed in person or via phone on ways to incorporate scholarship in the landscape, and 6,400 members of the campus community were reached through Instagram. An online magazine published by MNLA kept the campus community updated on findings, alternative plans, and conclusions.

Institutions Mentioned: Smith College
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Adaptable Plans, Campus Master Planning, COVID-19, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Engaging Stakeholders, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Landscape / Open Space, Placemaking, Planning Processes, Student Engagement, Sustainability (Environmental)

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Quickly Building a Bridge

Use an Institutional Effectiveness Planning Model to Drive Strategic Planning

By: Jason Nicholas, MS, Daniel Cullen, PhD, and Ellen Koski, MPH

Executive leadership changes at Northern Michigan University led the interim president, interim provost, and Board of Trustees to call for a bridge plan to clearly articulate strategic work happening throughout campus. This article describes how the university was able to develop an interim strategic plan with broad campus engagement in less than half a year.

From Volume 51 Number 3 | April–June 2023

Institutions Mentioned: Northern Michigan University
Planning Types: Strategic Planning, Institutional Effectiveness Planning
Tags: Alignment, Assessment / Analytics, Bridge Planning, Engaging Stakeholders, Institutional Effectiveness, Institutional Planning, Institutional Research, Metrics, Planning Processes, Presidential Leadership, Response Planning, Selecting Metrics, Student Engagement

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Facilities Planning for Community Colleges

Practicing Equity for Educational Inclusion & Belonging

By: Amara H. Pérez, PhD | Brodie Bain, NAC|Architecture | Saumya Kini, Walker Macy | Rebecca Ocken, Portland Community College

The planning team for Portland Community College will discuss lessons learned while practicing equity to create an inclusive Facilities Plan for Oregon’s largest higher education institution on thresholds of global, local, and institutional shifts.

Abstract: The planning team for Portland Community College will discuss lessons learned while practicing equity to create an inclusive Facilities Plan for Oregon’s largest higher education institution on thresholds of global, local, and institutional shifts. Portland Community College, a multi-campus institution constantly navigating academic, workforce, and social change, offers critical and timely lessons for effective and inclusive integrated planning. Attendees will be encouraged to consider relationships between educational equity, campus planning, and institution-wide shifts. They will feel empowered to balance uncertainty, flexibility, and specificity in planning equitable futures.

Institutions Mentioned: Portland Community College
Planning Types: Campus Planning, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning
Tags: Alignment, Community College, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Higher Ed Trends, Learning Environments, Racial Equity, Student Engagement

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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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Social Mobility and the Graduation Rate Paradox

Can You Advance One and Avoid the Other?

By: Roy Mathew, PhD, Elsa Bonilla-Martin, PhD, Luis A Aguirre, MS, and Naoko Tsuboi, MA

By using a metric-based planning framework, researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso identified areas for institutional intervention to enhance social mobility outcomes.

From Volume 51 Number 1 | October–December 2022

Abstract: Social mobility is an emerging area of focus for higher education institutions. In recent years, we have seen a proliferation of measures related to social mobility produced by publishers, scholars, think tanks, and foundations. However, it is still unclear which social mobility measures to advance, or when to intervene to improve social mobility outcomes. We rely on a century of literature from economics, sociology, and policy analysis to identify an appropriate framework to understand higher education’s contribution to social mobility. Using the metric-based planning framework, we identify areas for institutional intervention to enhance social mobility outcomes.

Institutions Mentioned: The University of Texas at El Paso
Planning Types: Institutional Effectiveness Planning, Strategic Enrollment Management Planning, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning
Tags: Attracting and Retaining Underrepresented Students, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Enrollment Management, Student Demographics, Student Success, Underserved Students

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Conference Recordings

Published
November 2, 2022

2022 Mid-Atlantic Regional Symposium | November

Reckoning with Entangled Histories

Higher Education and Slavery

By: Fanchon (Chon) Glover, College of William and Mary | Amber Hall, College of William and Mary | Samuel Hayes, College of William and Mary | Ben Carton, George Mason University | Wendi Manuel Scott, George Mason University | Cathy Pinskey, George Mason University | Dereck J. Rovaris, Sr., St. Mary's College of Maryland | Maurice Schlesinger, St. Mary's College of Maryland | Louis Nelson, University of Virginia | Alice Raucher, University of Virginia | Stephanie Wolfgang, Perkins&Will

In this symposium, four institutions will share their approaches to these complicated questions and how they’re continuing the conversation around the legacy of slavery on their campuses.

Abstract: American higher education institutions have a long, complex history with slavery that shouldn’t be ignored. Reckoning with these historical ties—from slave-owning namesakes to the enslaved laborers who constructed campus buildings—generates difficult questions for colleges and universities:

How do we honor those who were enslaved?
How do we recognize our role in the history of slavery as a means of learning from the past to guide our future?

In this symposium, four institutions will share their approaches to these complicated questions and how they’re continuing the conversation around the legacy of slavery on their campuses.

Institutions Mentioned: College of William and Mary, George Mason University, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, University of Virginia-Main Campus
Planning Types: Campus Planning, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning
Tags: Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Historic Preservation, Landscape / Open Space, Placemaking, Racial Equity, SCUP 2022 Mid-Atlantic Symposium | November, Student Engagement

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Challenges