Learning Resources

Abstract: Working across boundaries is essential for student success, but also incredibly difficult to do. This session looks at the collaboration between enrollment management and departmental faculty—specifically the planning, monitoring, and communication of student progress in an online doctoral program. You will learn techniques to improve communication between departments that historically work independent of each other, along with opportunities for future interdepartmental partnerships that improve student success.

Abstract: After a campus tragedy, the first steps for the community toward settling into the new normal often entail working through the gravity of recent events. This work includes a need for internal reflection, external processing, and collective healing. Campus communities engaged in this process often find a way to memorialize the events that have shaken them and to honor the lives of any community members lost to tragedy. This research project focuses on physical memorials that are the result of a tragic moment in institutional history.

Abstract: This article discusses furthering research on distance education and technological advancements across institutions through the launching of a national research center. Specifically, the authors discuss developing an institutional capacity to conduct research, harnessing resources to support research, leading research initiatives and collaborations, and mapping the future of data collection and analysis.

Abstract: Health and wellness centers that encourage all students to be active are replacing the traditional gymnasium complexes on campuses throughout the United States. Studies indicate that regular exercise helps students fight off depression, relieve stress, improve grades, and graduate on time. At Cabrini University, Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) architects designed an athletic pavilion that accommodates a wide variety of wellness, exercise, and fitness programs. WRT master planners used design principles that encourage physical activity to frame the campus reorganization so that all members of the campus community could incorporate healthy activity into their daily lives.

Abstract: Wellness—including mental health counseling, medical care, fitness and recreation, and other services—is now recognized as a crucial service for higher education institutions to provide to their students. This article discusses current trends in wellness centers at U.S. colleges and universities and challenges the reader to consider questions such as how campuses will meet increasing demands for mental health counseling. We describe how institutions are establishing best practices and building state-of-the-art facilities to serve the needs of the person as a whole. In preparation for renovation or new construction, we recommend that higher education professionals and architects implement a data-driven process to determine how best to serve the student population.

Abstract: We live at a time when increasing numbers of Americans consume food prepared away from home. This trend, along with poor dietary choices and lack of access to healthy, sustainably sourced food, contributes to a reduced quality of life and the onset of preventable disease.
The Culinary Arts and Sustainable Food Systems curriculum recently approved by the Kalamazoo Valley Community College trustees reflects the college’s belief that best practices in urban agriculture, the latest developments in culinary and food production research and technology, and the transformative power of education will improve the health and well-being of our citizens and help sustain our communities. The college believes that culinary and food professionals can serve as positive change agents in society.

Abstract: The earliest American colleges were designed with health in mind. Today, however, the importance of the relationship between the campus environment and student health has waned in favor of individually based evaluations and behavioral interventions, an approach that fails to consider the contexts in which behaviors occur and overlooks the fundamental role of place—and those who design it—in shaping human health. In this article I argue that, in fact, the college campus matters to student health and thus must be designed and evaluated accordingly. Using an ecological model of health to explore two burgeoning student health concerns—mental health and sedentary behavior—I identify health needs not currently addressed by standard assessments of student health, define a new method for evaluating the environmental contexts in which health-related behaviors occur, and offer recommendations for planning and designing campuses as healthy places.

Abstract: In February 2008, the U.S. Army and Fayetteville State University established a partnership that has changed the process of healthcare education for active duty social workers. Before this time, the army relied on public universities to be solely responsible for recruiting, evaluating, and educating active duty social workers to serve the needs of service members and their families. However, to meet an immediate need for more social workers to deal with the wounds caused by the War on Terror and to help it get the best possible return on its educational investment, the army decided to partner with a university to establish a distance education Master of Social Work program at the Army Medical Department Center and School at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, North Carolina was the university partner selected. This article outlines the background of the partnership and the issues other public universities should consider if they want to partner with the military or another federal agency. The article also highlights the benefits of such a partnership.

Abstract: College campuses across the United States are increasingly challenged to educate psychologically distressed students and to recognize that college student mental health is not only a counseling center issue, but also a campus issue. As such, many colleges and universities are moving toward campuswide prevention efforts designed to help identify and support students who need to manage their distress. Prior research has highlighted these issues and described ways to involve campus units in initiating campuswide prevention efforts. This article focuses on the key elements necessary to successfully foster prevention efforts and includes practical suggestions to improve prevention protocols on campus.