Learning Resources

Abstract: After the 2017 earthquake in Mexico City, Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey’s campus underwent a transformative rebuilding process that emerged as a pedagogical prototype for the university system. This article explores the design strategies that prioritized civic engagement, resulting in buy-in, support, and representation from the community. It also describes the methodology behind blurring the boundaries between the university and its surroundings through lean principles in set-based design, strategies for resilient building, and insights into effective collaboration.

Abstract: With the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events continuing to increase across the country, the need for resilience planning is more critical than ever before.

Numerous campuses across the California State University (CSU) system have direct experience with wildfires, extended drought, floods, extreme heat, public safety power shutoffs, hurricanes, and sea level rise. The CSU is currently working toward increasing resilience in response to catastrophic events through systemwide technical guidance resources on building and infrastructure design and retrofit. These extreme conditions further prompted the need for vulnerability assessments systemwide and coordinated climate resilience planning and investment activities.

Using the activities of CSU climate action and adaptation planning, Wallace’s SCUP Fellows project sought to achieve three (3) primary objectives:

Review planning documents and policies that consider climate resiliency governance versus climate resiliency implementation.
Identify key stakeholders to develop a primer for addressing and incorporating campus-community implementation priorities.
Raise awareness with the broader higher education planning community to collect feedback and share model practices.
Join 2022-2023 SCUP Fellow Tamara Wallace as she shares her findings to help you and your team proactively plan for climate change to mitigate risks, prevent damage, and ensure continued learning from lived experiences.

Abstract: Implementing Sustainable Change in Higher Education: Principles and Practices of Collaborative Leadership
by Brent D. Ruben
Stylus Publishing: Sterling, Virginia: 2022
229 pages
ISBN: 978-1642674415

How should higher education leaders take on the challenges of change? In Brent Ruben’s Implementing Sustainable Change in Higher Education: Principles and Practices of Collaborative Leadership, the author says there’s no simple approach. Instead, he encourages leaders to “understand and leverage the dynamics of change; lead collaboratively and meaningfully; engage one’s colleagues; and adopt and pursue a shared vision of organizational purpose and aspirations.”

Abstract: What do strategic plans do? Who are they for? What does it mean to be “strategic”? These are among the questions addressed in a recent year-long study of 108 active college and university strategic plans (and the basis of the 2021 book What Makes a Strategic Plan Strategic). Hear directly from the researchers as they highlight a few important insights they discovered during their analysis, like how to avoid the many pitfalls of strategic planning and ensure a process focused on strategy and outcomes.

Abstract: A Practical Guide to Strategic Planning in Higher Education is a resource for anyone engaged in college or university strategic planning; it is also an excellent primer for planning committees. Using clear definitions, practical tips, and examples drawn from actual situations, this short book acts as a manual for both experienced planners and those who are new to the process. This second edition also contains new strategies for using an institution’s strategic plan during times of institutional upheaval, and additional techniques for jump-starting various parts of the planning process.

Abstract: Detailed campus master plan documentation for the Texas A&M University’s RELLIS innovation campus, located 15 minutes from the main campus in College Station.

From the executive summary:
“The 2018 RELLIS Campus Master Plan is a planning effort that focuses on supporting The Texas A&M University System as a national leader in high-tech research, innovation, training, and technological development. Key aspects of this plan focus on supporting and guiding campus organization, buildout development, open space networks, facility programming, and improving social amenities located within the campus. Issues considered in this 20-year planning horizon anticipate enrollment growth, increased teaching and research demands, future transportation needs, sustainability, and economic growth. A campus-wide advisory committee included multiple stakeholders which helped shape the strategic goals that will guide the physical development of the campus during the life of the 2018 master plan. The changes presented in this plan are intended to transform the largely undeveloped 1,877 acres of land into a multi-institutional research, testing, and workforce development campus that directly benefits society at large. The 2020 update to this plan reflects additional study and progress on the campus as of December 31, 2019.”

Contents:

• Introduction (includes approach and timeline)
• Background
• The Vision
• Plan Elements
• Infrastructure Plan
• Guidelines
• Signage and Wayfinding
• Appendices

Abstract: “In 2013 TRU established ‘increasing sustainability’ as one of its five strategic priorities for 2014-2019. This Strategic Sustainability Plan (SSP) is aligned with the university’s strategic plan, and provides a focus for TRU’s efforts toward sustainability over the same period. The SSP is comprehensive in nature, and includes more than 130 recommended strategies across four key focus areas: Operations & Planning, Advocacy & Engagement, Learning, and Administration. The SSP is intended to provide a framework for each TRU department and operational unit to incorporate sustainability initiatives into their own planning processes (the structure of the plan is illustrated on the opposing page). . . . Unlike some strategic documents, the plan takes a comprehensive approach of documenting strategies over the next 5 years. These strategies are not all the responsibility of one department or office, but rather are shared among many. This comprehensive approach will allow each office or department to see where and how it can play a role in TRU’s sustainability journey.”