Learning Resources

Abstract: Skilled trades education programs provide a viable and equitable option for students who choose not to pursue a four-year degree. Program expansion into high schools through career and technical education promotes these pathways even further for completion and success. This session will show how Howard Community College (HCC) is responding to labor shortages in skilled trades occupations by creating educational programs and partnerships to provide additional access to high-quality jobs that offer family-sustaining wages and benefits. Join us to discover new approaches to education and partnerships that address equity gaps in economic and professional opportunities in our communities.

Abstract: Times of rapid change can interrupt operations and implementation efforts. Preventing this requires an ability to quickly adapt our programs and offerings to the changing landscape. Unfortunately, operational complexity and the disorienting nature of uncertainty become a hurdle to rapid response. Either we get overwhelmed trying to identify all that needs to change, or we respond haphazardly, missing crucial details.

Contingency planning can help. It is a method for preparing for potential changes that identifies how operations and action plans need to shift in response. It can also be used to respond to changes after they happen.

The Campus Contingency Planner is a template for lightweight, rapid contingency planning. It guides you through a process that identifies the impacts of change, how decisions during contingency planning will be made, and the operational components of programs and offerings that will need to be adapted in response.

Whether you manage student-facing programs (like academic programs or student affairs activities), or direct services that are internally supportive (like space management or IT), the Campus Contingency Planner can help you respond to change with flexibility, minimizing disruption and moving your institution forward.

Abstract: Regional economic growth is often central to an institution's mission, with co-benefits for learning and research. Effective, equitable industry and government partnerships can open student internship and job opportunities, translate research into community benefits and prosperity, build town-gown synergy, and draw more students, faculty, and resources. In this session, our panel will outline strategies for building effective industry and government partnerships as well as measuring, improving, and communicating results. We'll show you how to find and build partnerships that genuinely, equitably deepen economic impact and student opportunities; critically examine results; make changes to optimize impact; and demonstrate your success.

Abstract: Affordable and accessible higher education is key to upward mobility and community transformation, especially for many rural and remote suburban communities that have limited access to resources. In this session, we'll explore the potential synergies between existing community colleges and their satellite locations. How can institutions drive community-engaged development in places that really need it? Is it better to build on existing assets or to build new? Discover how a community charted its own path toward a new college campus by organizing, passing a bond, and ultimately developing a tech-enabled, high flex learning environment with community space.

Abstract: Planning through an ecosystem lens allows for coordination, innovation, and value exchange for regional strategic partnerships linking learning, work, and economic vitality. Using ecosystemic design, Minnesota State University (MSU), Mankato and the greater Mankato region will partner, innovate, and act in the future tense with the community and business ecosystem to train and sustain the workforce for local to global challenges. Join us to discuss ways of bringing stakeholders together to develop synergistic solutions for connecting university learning experiences and strengthening talent and skills for regional economic development.

Abstract: The planning, designing, and building of campus initiatives requires broad and diverse perspectives. This session will present the case for implementing sustainable ways of diversifying the owner, design, and construction industry through emergent data collection. We'll explore the link between diversity and high-performance of project development, process, and teams, and discuss the developing research and data related to owner satisfaction. Join us to find out how diverse and high-performance teams can add to the continuous improvement of processes and create sustainable changes towards a more diverse pipeline of multiple disciplines that impact the campus.

Abstract: No two individuals are 'wired' to process information or stimuli in their environment in the same way, yet the design of campus environments often focuses on the 'norm'. Meeting diverse needs on a spectrum of neurodiversity is an emerging concern for educational planning and design. We'll explore how physical environments can impact the educational experience by planning for neurodiversity and identify planning considerations that support equitable, inclusive campus environments to meet diverse social, emotional, and cognitive needs. This session aims to increase awareness, fluency, and sensitivity to assist planning efforts addressing neurodiversity that positively impact the built environment and the holistic experience and wellbeing of the campus community.