Learning Resources

Abstract: In the vast majority of building projects, decisions made in the first 10 percent of project activity directly determine 90 percent of the final cost and schedule. When a project is poorly planned, project costs can expand beyond estimates by as much as 50 percent. Since the owner's rate of spending increases as a building project proceeds, comprehensive planning is a must. The best way to do this is to prepare the owner through an “owner preparation process.” The results of diligently following such a process include: (1) unexpected and unnecessary costs are kept to a minimum, (2) the project successfully meets its end users' needs and goals, and (3) the architect, builders, and other players all perform at their very best. This article outlines principles inherent in an owner preparation process and offers owners concrete examples of how such planning significantly protects the bottom line.

Abstract: The demographic of the American college student has changed significantly in the last 20 years, affecting institutional planning on multiple levels. The study presented in this article examines the collaboration between Academic and Student Affairs at Buffalo State College in planning a family college designed to facilitate the integration of student parents into the campus community. The initial idea for the family college came from an ad hoc College Senate committee dominated by faculty members. Leadership of this initiative shifted to Student Affairs during the construction and operation of the facility. The evaluation of the project provided new parity in leadership as members of Academic and Student Affairs jointly planned, conducted, and analyzed interviews with residents. This evaluation resulted in significant changes to the family college in response to the voices of the student parents, including additional personnel, programs, and facilities.

Abstract: Faculty who are selected to be academic department chairs generally lack leadership preparation and have little understanding of the demands of the position. Good experiences as a faculty member do not necessarily translate to being a good department chair. As strategic planning becomes increasingly essential to the well being of colleges and universities, department chairs will be expected to provide leadership in that process because it is at the departmental level that innovation is initiated and academic policies are implemented. This article reviews the relevant literature on department chair leadership and offers insights into how faculty can be prepared for the challenges of academic leadership based on one university's approach to professional development for department chairs.

Abstract: Camden, New Jersey, a city of 80,000 located directly across the Delaware River from center-city Philadelphia, is, by any index of urban decay, one of the nation's most distressed urban centers. While severely ineffective, the city houses the essential building blocks of future recovery: branches of four colleges and universities and two major hospitals. A failure to recover during one of the strongest economic upturns in the nation's history, coupled with an unfortunate history of corruption and mismanagement, caused the state legislature to take two extraordinary actions to stabilize and revitalize the city: installing a state-appointed chief operating officer for the city, whose powers supercede those of the mayor and council, and putting forth an investment plan for the city that built upon its remaining institutional strengths in higher education and health care. A working group, the Camden Higher Education and Healthcare Task Force, was formed by the city's higher education and health care institutions at the behest of key legislators to coordinate their development efforts in order to advance the recovery of the city.

Abstract: This article describes a method for attributing research expenditures directly to assigned space that avoids the difficulties with traditional approaches that have arisen from the growth of interdisciplinary research activities where the attribution of research to the faculty member or unit is not strongly correlated with the location where the research is performed. The emergence and growth of new transdisciplinary research activities that not only connect research from traditional disciplines but also form the unifying theme around which a whole new area may form depends in part on reducing traditional barriers to space allocation and encouraging the creative efforts of everyone contributing to meet research space needs. Projects may be distributed across several rooms, some of which are shared with other projects. We seek to attribute credit for such efforts using approximations from existing data to avoid exacerbating an already onerous data collection challenge. The pilot version and a second iteration of the project have been completed with worthwhile results. A new analysis is currently underway with further improved data collection, an enhanced database, and a more systematic process.

Abstract: This is a case study of a state institution granted charter status in l992 in exchange for capping its request for state funds. St. Mary's College of Maryland received widespread freedom from state procedural controls, including procurement, personnel, and some capital development processes. The state, however, retained its oversight of the institution's basic role and mission. The findings indicate a win-win for both the state and the college but caution that such a status should be extended only after careful consideration.