Learning Resources

Analyzing Existing Campus Space for Hybrid Teaching and Learning

A Step-by-Step Process Helps Planners Reconceptualize Classrooms

By: Aiman Khamitova, EdD, Luis R. Rojas-Solórzano, PhD, and Ines Russinho Mouga, MSc

In the aftermath of COVID-19, Nazarbayev University (Kazakhstan) rethought learning spaces, adapting them to the good practices that were used during the period of solely online teaching.

From Volume 51 Number 4 | July–September 2023

Abstract: This article describes the step-by-step process of campus space reconceptualization. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a need to rethink learning spaces and adapt them to some of the good practices used during the solely online teaching period. Through cross-functional collaboration and joint governance, a purposefully established task force audited all classrooms at Nazarbayev University (Kazakhstan). It came up with short-term and long-term recommendations. The audit results and recommendations outlined in this article might be useful to university administration and leadership interested in campus repurposing due to pandemic effects on teaching and new formats like hybrid learning that have influenced instruction.

Institutions Mentioned: Nazarbayev University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: COVID-19, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Hybrid Learning, Learning Environments, Online Learning, Renovation, Space Assessment, Teaching and Learning

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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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Example Plans

Published
May 17, 2023

Bridge Plan

Public Associate’s College (Arizona, United States)

From April 2020, the institution’s president led faculty and staff in a rigorous planning and exploration process to ensure that the college remained accessible and thriving through the pandemic and beyond. This bridge plan document details the action steps resulting from that process.

Planning Types: Continuity Planning
Resource Types: Bridge Plan
Tags: Bridge Planning, Community College, COVID-19, Goals, Hybrid Learning, Leadership Attitude Toward Planning, Online Learning, Operational Planning, Organizational Culture, Response Planning, Scenario Planning, Strategies and Tactics, Student Experience, Teaching and Learning

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A Community College Perspective on Their Role in Future-Proofing Education

By: James Pfeiffer, BNIM | Richard Fort, Johnson County Community College

Richard Fort from Johnson County Community College and James Pfeiffer from BNIM will share lessons learned from post-covid educational offerings and incorporating a diversity of spatial and programmatic options to facilitate workforce development.

Abstract: Workforce development is a driver for planning and design in community colleges using metrics to understand long term projections around enrollment needs in the region, planning for those metrics, and building for the future. With the cost of education skyrocketing, the demographic cliff needs to be addressed for all generations. Community colleges offer important lessons that inform educational offerings across a more diverse background.

Institutions Mentioned: Johnson County Community College
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Academic Facility, Community College, COVID-19, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Workforce Development

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It Takes a (Virtual) Village

Harper College Accomplished Integrated Campus Planning During a Time of Profound Change

By: Avis Proctor, EdD; Maria Coons, EdD; Krisan Osterby, MLA, ITGA; Stephen Siegle, MArch, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

This large community college successfully embraced virtual communication platforms and moved forward with a viable 10-year plan during a global health crisis, economic turbulence, and technological change.

From Volume 51 Number 2 | January–March 2023

Abstract: Integrated planning during profound change requires extra flexibility and attention to user engagement while utilizing new modes of interaction. This article summarizes a successful virtual and comprehensive planning process, including consensus-building, and approval at Harper College. It reviews results and lessons learned by this large community college as it embraced virtual communication platforms and moved forward with a viable 10-year plan during a global health crisis, economic turbulence, and technological change. The authors share the remote process used to set goals, assess resources, define needs, explore options, and guide decision-making with numerous stakeholders.

Institutions Mentioned: Harper College
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Academic Facility, Alignment, Campus Master Planning, Community College, COVID-19, Engaging Stakeholders, Facilities Assessment, Facilities Planning, Planning Processes, Student Center / Union, SWOT Analysis

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Book Review: The Agile College

How Institutions Successfully Navigate Demographic Changes

By: Bryan C. Harvey, EdD

From Volume 51 Number 2 | January–March 2023

Abstract: The Agile College: How Institutions Successfully Navigate Demographic Changes
by Nathan D. Grawe
Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore: 2021
298 pages
ISBN: 978-1421440231

Does hope motivate action or complacency? Does crisis induce change or despair? Nathan D. Grawe readily acknowledges this tension in The Agile College, his follow-up book to his 2018 Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education. The latter propelled the inescapable discussion throughout higher education of the looming “demographic cliff.” The Agile College suggests how agile institutions might prevent demography from becoming destiny.

Planning Types: Strategic Enrollment Management Planning
Tags: Change Management, COVID-19, Demographics, Disruptive Change, Recovery Planning, Resiliency, Shrinking Pool of Potential Students, Student Demographics, Student Recruitment, Student Retention, Trends External to Higher Ed

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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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Blog Post

Published
July 6, 2022

What Is a Bridge Plan?

(And Does Your Institution Need One?)

By: Sadie Wutka, Director of Content Strategy, SCUP

A bridge plan allows a college or university to continue to pursue defined strategic pathways during times of uncertainty or rapid, unpredictable change. It’s also a good solution for when faculty and staff are overwhelmed due to a highly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environment.

Planning Types: Strategic Planning
Tags: Adaptable Plans, Bridge Planning, Change Management, COVID-19, Disruptive Change, Modifying the Plan, Organizational Change

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Around the Water Cooler, Minus the Water Cooler

Build College Community, Resilience, and Trust through Campus-Wide Meetings

By: Kelley L. Conrad, PhD

More than 100 Muskegon Community College employees attend weekly, all-college meetings. These are essential touchpoints for communication, learning, and planning.

From Volume 50 Number 3 | April–June 2022

Abstract: Since 2011 Michigan’s Muskegon Community College has held all-campus meetings every Friday morning. Initially the meetings were for student services staff to share information and updates. When COVID-19 caused a rapid shift to virtual course and service delivery, meeting attendance more than tripled as the college community drew together to understand what was happening, what was needed from and expected of employees, and how to connect with colleagues when doing so in person was not possible.

Institutions Mentioned: Muskegon Community College
Tags: Communication, Community College, COVID-19, Operational Planning

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Book Review: Work Force Rx

Agile and Inclusive Strategies for Employers, Educators and Workers in Unsettled Times

By: Larry Goldstein, MS, CPA

From Volume 50 Number 3 | April–June 2022

Abstract: Work Force Rx: Agile and Inclusive Strategies for Employers, Educators and Workers in Unsettled Times
by Van Ton-Quinlivan
Master Catalyst Press: mastercatalyst.org: 2021
266 pages
ISBN: 978-1737627524

Institutions Mentioned: California Community Colleges System
Planning Types: Academic Planning
Tags: Community College, COVID-19, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Workforce Development

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Planning Types

Challenges