Learning Resources

Abstract: Data is only as powerful as your understanding around it. Analytics makes possible new understandings of students and their needs, and creates an advanced ability to improve student success through use of new software being implemented on campuses around the world.

This handbook is designed to help any higher ed leader unleash the power of data that is always available but seldom leveraged. It helps to answer the questions, (1) How does a campus strategically develop a plan for use of analytics in better supporting their students? (2) Once a culture is in place, how do leaders effectively move new evidence into action? This primer walks readers through each step of the analytics adoption.

Abstract: Recently, education researchers have emphasized the redesign of learning spaces to better accommodate pedagogical change. In particular, studies have found evidence of the relationship between the built environment and learning outcomes—however, no current studies have deliberately focused on the “minority majority” feature of America’s future student composition.

This pilot study was conducted to evaluate how space contributes to the learning outcomes of a demographically diverse class of students at Morgan State University, a Historically Black Institution. Based on the neurobiological literature on environmental enrichment, the authors hypothesized that an enriched learning environment will correlate with increased student activity (directed movement) and engagement (with other students, with room features) and result in significantly improved learning outcomes for an ethnically diverse student group.

Abstract: This project examines the evolution of the campuses of Harvard, Yale, Penn, Princeton, and Columbia (collectively referred to in this study as “the Five”) from their founding, through the centuries of their development, and into the future to better understand how academic and other forces gave form to the buildings and grounds and how historical outcomes may inform future growth.

Essays and illustrations present and analyze the vision plans currently under consideration by each university. As these plans are works-in-progress, web links are provided to follow evolution beyond today. A capstone essay titled “Hindsight-Foresight” presents themes linking the past, present, and future of campus development at the Five. The goal of the project–through publication, exhibition, and live presentation/discussion–is to engage campus planners, other design professionals, and architectural historians in further exploring how academic and other forces gave form to the buildings and grounds and how historical outcomes may inform future growth.

Abstract: The eight chapters in this book reflect Richard Dober’s categories of the elements of campus image and design. Within each chapter, each page displays two campus scenes, chosen for thought-provoking comparison—and a brief comment from Dober regarding each.

Richard Dober (1928–2014) was a planning and design advisor to more than 450 colleges, universities, and cultural institutions worldwide, as well as to foundations and government agencies, the World Bank, and UNESCO. He wrote nine books and numerous articles on planning and design and was a founder of the Society for College and University Planning. He led consulting firms since the early 1960s, including most recently, Dober Lidsky Mathey, a firm specializing in campus planning and facility planning services.

Abstract: This companion piece to Campus Heritage is published by SCUP and the Association of University Architects (AUA). It describes the forms, fame, and fate of Old Main, arguably higher education's iconic architecture. These edifices came into being as intentional examples of institutional aspirations and accomplishments, track stories of neglect and renewal, illustrate how some lost through human and natural disasters are now remembered with inspiring campus designs, offer reasons why Old Main and comparable buildings and landscapes deserve a prominent place in comprehensive campus plans, and outline workable methods to achieve that objective. The accompanying graphics, including a visually delightful collection of historic picture post cards, help support the premise that a rounded view of America's collegiate enterprises would be incomplete without understanding and acknowledging the contributions these magnificent masterworks have made to campus development.

Abstract: This monograph offers ideas, insights, and information about campus heritage. It describes and illustrates the contributions campus heritage can make to promote, strengthen, and support institutional goals and objectives and outlines suggested methods of incorporating campus heritage in campus plans, facility plans, and campus design concepts.

Richard Dober (1928–2014) was a planning and design advisor to more than 450 colleges, universities, and cultural institutions worldwide, as well as to foundations and government agencies, the World Bank, and UNESCO. He wrote nine books and numerous articles on planning and design and was a founder of the Society for College and University Planning. He led consulting firms since the early 1960s, including most recently, Dober Lidsky Mathey, a firm specializing in campus planning and facility planning services.

Abstract: Clearly, space affects learning behavior. Yet even in the Knowledge Age, designers go back constantly to familiar Agrarian and Industrial Age learning space models. SCUPer Lennie Scott-Webber worked assiduously to comb through the latest behavioral and sociological research relating to how people interact with the built environment. She’s taken what used to “sit on shelves in the ivory halls of academe” and has applied it to the physical design of interior learning spaces.

Scott-Webber’s work, shared in this elegant book with clear and over-sized diagrams and charts, establishes five different archetypal environments that support knowledge sharing: Environments for Delivering Knowledge; Environments for Applying Knowledge; Environments for Creating Knowledge; Environments for Communication Knowledge; and Environments for Decision Making.

There’s more to classroom design than simply considering what technology to put into the classroom. Designers and clients, whether in education or the corporate world, will each enjoy the way existing environmental/behavior research can be applied to the thoughtful consideration of these archetypes, either standing alone or used in combinations to create rich, interactive learning spaces.

Abstract: This publication, a follow-up to the popular Planning for Student Services: Best Practices for the 21st Century, introduces the topic of web portals and call centers needed to support web services. It also describes the lessons learned from one-stop centers, which are causing facilities to be redesigned and new service career paths to be defined. Services have become a strategic issue for institutions, and web strategies—driven by web services—have become critical as well. The authors, who are among IBM best practice partners, present case studies of their institutions by describing their experiences in these areas. They also show how they have been successful in integrating technology into their student services projects, redesigning their processes, implementing change, and extending their brand.

Abstract: This book thoroughly reviews the fundamentals of campus planning. It is divided into three sections: “Prospectus,” “The Campus and Its Parts” (such as instructional facilities, housing, and parking and circulation), and “Campus Plans,” (such as expanding the campus, building a new campus, and renovating). It is rich in concepts and specific solutions, with hundreds of photographs and drawings. It should be on the bookshelf of any campus planner. This classic was first printed in 1963 and is the work of Richard P. Dober, a charter member of SCUP, who influenced campuses worldwide as a planner and consultant to more than 350 educational institutions.

Richard Dober (1928–2014) was a planning and design advisor to more than 450 colleges, universities, and cultural institutions worldwide, as well as to foundations and government agencies, the World Bank, and UNESCO. He wrote nine books and numerous articles on planning and design and was a founder of the Society for College and University Planning. He led consulting firms since the early 1960s, including most recently, Dober Lidsky Mathey, a firm specializing in campus planning and facility planning services.

Abstract: This book shows how a campus is defined through its physical image—buildings and landscapes are designed to communicate the institution's purpose, presence and domain as well as generate an image charged with symbolism. Design principals, methods, and procedures with wide applications are described. Two key design components, placemaking and placemaking, are used as the basis for numerous case studies. Originally published by John Wiley & Sons in 1992, re-published by SCUP in 2003.

In the new foreword, Dober notes that “there is an ever-widening realization that a distinctive sense of place can have a positive impact on recruiting and retaining students, faculty, staff, trustees, and governing boards.” That makes the reprinted-in-full edition of this 1992 campus planning classic a required reference for all who care about the planning and development of an institution's buildings, grounds, and surroundings.

Richard Dober (1928–2014) was a planning and design advisor to more than 450 colleges, universities, and cultural institutions worldwide, as well as to foundations and government agencies, the World Bank, and UNESCO. He wrote nine books and numerous articles on planning and design and was a founder of the Society for College and University Planning. He led consulting firms since the early 1960s, including most recently, Dober Lidsky Mathey, a firm specializing in campus planning and facility planning services.