Learning Resources

Abstract: Over the past 40 years, the construction of many college and univeristy buildings have disrupted the aesthetic tradtiion and history of campus design. Institutions of higher learning must become better guardians of, as Thomas Jefferson said, "academical villages." Attractive campus architecture needs administrators, faculty, and alumni to monitor professional architects. Newer buildings must blend with their historical neighbors and integrate within the campus fabric. Universities must maintain three important elements to restore control of campus design: (1) a renewed sense of campus architecture's purpose, (2) a devotion to human scale, and (3) a sense of campus aesthetics. Additionally, three guidelines can preserve the values of the university campus: (1) recognition that the village-like atmosphere is an American creation, (2) guarding the campus environment as carefully as the faculty, and (3) a set of design guidelines. Examples of design guidelines include the fact that new buildings should be subordinate to surrounding space, a hierarchy of buildings based on size, discouragement of "signature" buildings, and the visual sensations of faculty and students that are a measure of design satisfaction. Colleges and universities must monitor and protect the beauty of campus architecture. To ignore its aesthetic value is to neglect the tradition and purpose of the "academic village."

Abstract: Viewpoint Subtitles: Matters of life and death; What does it all mean?; A few lessons (noncollegiate); The courage to care, to build. Pull quotes: "Service to others is the rent each of us pays for living on this earth." "Our children are growing up in an ethically polluted nation." "Too many of us talk big and act small." "We must encourage science and math achievement as well as basketball and football, calculus as well as cotillions." "College students have a special obligation to lead."

Abstract: Book Review: Pension and Retirement Policicies in College and Universities, by The Commission on College Retirement. Jossey-Bass, 1990. 375 pages.

Abstract: Many colleges and universities have a series of master plans. However, "few institutions use their master plan when they renovate or build," resulting in haphazard campus design. A master plan "lays out the direction, physical needs, and overall appearances," of an institution over the next 15 to 20 years. It includes a land use plan; location and type of architecture; renovation plans; a landscape concept; a plan for the movement and placement of people and vehicles; property development; and plan for utilities. The master plan costs from $30,000 to more than $100,000. It takes from four months to a year to complete. Three factors are essential to successful master planning: (1) Doing homework on the strategic issues that university officials must address for the future. This should be done before the master planner arrives. (2) Involvment in the master plan's design, location, and style. (3) Choice of a master planner who understands the needs of campus long-range planning. If these three elements of a successful master plan are followed, it can produce a cohesive, pleasing environment for faculty, students, visitors, and alumni to appreciate.

Abstract: Book Review: Universities and the Future of america, by Derek Bok. Duke University Press, 1990. 122 pages.

Abstract: Subtitles: Four precepts; The importance of starting early; Is helpful action increasing?; To produce more black engineers. Pull quotes: "The training of engineers and scientists begins early." "A much greater investment by society is urgent." "Universities must plan now to train more black engineers and scientists." "Multiple approaches are necessary."