Learning Resources

Abstract: Heating fuel will be in short supply this winter. If our universal pessimism is correct, we may have to shut down some public places, such as schools and campus buildings. It is possible, of course, for us to avert a crisis if we cut down on the use of fuel. The ideas that follow were adapted by Larry Kramer, SCUP's editorial assistant, from an article in Schoolhouse (No. 13, November 1973), published by Educational Facilities Laboratories. Although intended for a readership of primary and secondary school administrators, the suggestions have equal import for physical plant administrators at colleges and universities. Not all of the suggestions will be usable in any one building, but there are more than enough to offer a number of alternative responses for any institution.

Abstract: The architects and planners of a new college or university enjoy a singular opportunity: the ability to start from scratch, unencumbered by existing buildings, entrenched administrative and faculty empires, or the traditions and prejudices normally encountered in an existing institution. Conversely, there are handicaps. Speed usually is mandatory. Classroom seats and/or dormitory beds must be provided immediately for initial enrollment levels. But specialized facilities must be planned with ultimate enrollments in mind. Even more than in existing institutions, change in the uses to which the new facilities will be put must be assumed. In perhaps the most sophisticated repsonse to these challenges to date, the planners of Stockton State College in New Jersey turned to the use of systems building, fast-track planning, and construction management to produce a 1,000-student, first phase campus in 20 months. More significantly, an elaborate set of phased or incremental plans was developed to permit orderly growth to an ultimate enrollment of 7,500. The resulting facilities described in this article emerged with a chameleon-like ability to change in function as, phase by phase, the new campus was developed.

Abstract: As courthouse violence in California has demonstrated, courtrooms of traditional design are far from being as efficient and as secure as they might be. At the same time, the law schools have been criticized for their lack of effectiveness in training trial lawyers. In an attempt to meet both of these problems, the McGeorge School of Law of the University of the Pacific in Sacramento, California, has opened what it terms the "courtroom of the future" and a prototype for courts and schools of law across the nation. The model courtroom and its evolution are described in this article.

Abstract: In its August 1973 issue, Planning for Higher Education reported on the plans of Rio Grande College, a small, private, liberal arts institution in southeastern Ohio, to operate a new community college under contract with the four-county Rio Grande Community College District. The story suggested that, as far as could be determined, the Rio Grande plan was a first. Not so, according to Kenneth W. Iversen, president of Union College, a private , two-year institution that since 1969 has been operating a community college under contract with the Union County Agency for Higher Education in New Jersey. Details of the Union operation are outlined in this article.

Abstract: There is a new--or newly apparent--reality facing college and university planners: they must plan in an atmosphere of rapid, if not traumatic, change, in an era when even institutional objectives cannot be taken as fixed or sancrosant. That reality was underscored at SCUP's 7th Annual International Conference in Atlanta by Fred E. Crossland in an address titled "In Planning: Aim at a Moving Target" (see the volume 1, number 2 issue of Planning for Higher Education). A year later, at SCUP's 8th Annual International Conference in Toronto, another perspective was offered by J. Gordon Parr, deputy minister of colleges and universities of the Province of Ontario.

Abstract: The growing importance of interinstitutional cooperation is underscored by the proliferation of regional consortia of colleges and universities across the nation. Unique among them is The Association for Graduate Education and Research of North Texas (TAGER), which operated a microwave network interconnecting nine colleges and universities in the region, as well as the facilities of seven large corporations. The network permits the institutions to share their course offerings and to tap new student "markets" among corporate employees. This is the story of TAGER's origins and operations.

Abstract: Spurred by the pressure of higher education's current recession, many colleges and universities are looking to the conversion or renovation of existing buildings as an alternative to new construction. But perhaps none has taken a more comprehensive approach than Oberlin College in Ohio, which recently undertook a building-by-building survey of its entire physical plant, emerging with plans to recycle 17 campus structures of between 260,000 and 340,000 square feet of space at an estimated cost ranging from $5.8 to $7 million.

Abstract: Colleges and universities, for years accustomed to planning in a condition of steady, sometimes rapid growth, now find themselves planning in a period of stable or declining enrollments. The result is a whole new set of problems and approaches for institutional planners. That new reality was a major focus of attention at SCUP's 8th Annual International Conference in Toronto, cropping up not only in a panel devoted to the subject but in other conference sessions. This article summarizes some of the discussion highlights.

Abstract: In an article, "Higher Education and Social Responsibility," published in the volume 1, number 2 issue of Planning for Higher Education, Michael A. Murray, assistant professor, Department of Political Science and Institute of Governmental Affairs, Chicago Circle Campus, took issue with Paul Dressel's book Return to Responsibility and its call for greater social responsibility on the part of colleges and universities. Murray's arguments have prompted still another assessment of the problem, this one by Philip M. Marcus, who collaborated in the preparation of Return to Responsibility and has conducted numerous studies of professionals and the organizations in which they work.