Learning Resources

Fully Engaged

Integrated Planning Was Leveraged to Optimize Community Participation in the University of California, Berkeley’s Campus Master Plan

By: Caitlyn Clauson, MUP, and Marissa Cheng, MArch, AICP

The most effective master plans are those that reflect the myriad voices of the institution. Engagement should be informative, inclusive, meaningful, and fun—and should be the product of an integrated process.

From Volume 50 Number 2 | January–March 2022

Abstract: The most effective master plans are those that reflect the myriad voices of the institution. We’re finding the engagement process is fast becoming as important a product of the plan as the plan itself. Engagement should be informative, inclusive, meaningful, and fun—and should be the product of an integrated process. Leveraging the University of California, Berkeley’s Campus Master Plan as a case study, this article provides a framework for developing custom engagement strategies, and highlights examples, lessons learned, and tips for optimizing meaningful participation.

Institutions Mentioned: University of California-Berkeley
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Campus Master Planning, Communication, Community Engagement, Engaging Stakeholders, Facilities Planning, Master Plan, Planning Processes, Student Engagement, Town and Gown

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Space Jam

How to Accommodate Campus Events and Meetings This Fall

By: Chris Morett, PhD, MPP

Much of the conversation around the return to campus this fall has focused on academic courses. But other events and meetings will also need to be accommodated.

From Volume 49 Number 4 | July–September 2021

Abstract: This article discusses an approach for campus meetings and events, such as study sessions, student group meetings, guest speaker presentations, etc., this coming academic year. It also aims to leverage the discussion about near-term needs to generate a more conceptual and flexible understanding of programming, space use, and virtual interaction within higher education.

Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Planning, Informal Learning Environments, Landscape / Open Space, Space Management, Student Life / Student Affairs

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Essentially There

Higher Education Returns to Serve

By: Christina D. Long, AIA

There is a call for higher education institutions to think of ways that knowledge can be created and shared between people— credentialed and noncredentialed—more readily so that society can better handle adversities.

From Volume 49 Number 1 | October–December 2020

Abstract: The education sector is excluded from the 16 official “Critical Infrastructure Sectors” managed by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. As the world grapples with a pandemic, this omission lays bare a disconnection between critical infrastructures serving daily life and the ground plane of learning and knowledge creation on which they are built; such a severing between ground plane and structure does not bode well for the entire assembly. For us to flourish as a society, higher education institutions—already grounded in a landscape of learning and knowledge creation—need to be a foundational support to essential infrastructures sustaining daily life in communities small and large.

Planning Types: Academic Planning
Tags: Community Engagement, COVID-19, Higher Ed in Society, Recovery Planning

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‘Colorblind-Spots’ in Campus Design

Planners and Architects Can Offer Solutions That Center on Social Justice

By: Amara H. Pérez, PhD

Educational leaders are noting that conventional campus design planning efforts have neglected to include the voices of historically underserved communities. Socio-spatial inquiry can help institutions offer an equity approach to inclusivity and authentic engagement.

From Volume 49 Number 1 | October–December 2020

Abstract: To gain a broader understanding of how educational equity is linked to campus design, architects and planners must critically examine community engagement practices. Using critical race theory (CRT) as a framework has exposed racial exclusion and colorblind practices in traditional planning processes. While outreach strategies have received greater scrutiny, less examined are the questions that direct those activities. If the prevailing understanding of a design problem is informed by colorblind inquiry, then design solutions hold little promise to improve social impact on communities most affected by educational inequity. Socio-spatial inquiry offers an equity approach to inclusive outreach and authentic engagement.

Planning Types: Campus Planning, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning
Tags: Community Engagement, Engaging Stakeholders, Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Racial Equity

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Book Review: The New American College Town

Designing Effective Campus and Community Partnerships

By: Daniel J. Harper

From Volume 48 Number 4 | July–Sep 2020

Abstract: by James Martin, James E. Samels & Associates
Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore, MD 21218
2019
328 Pages
ISBN 978-1421432786

Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Community Engagement, Town and Gown

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2019

The Intersection

Where Do Human Needs and Space Allocation Cross?

By: Matthew Menzies, Michelle Nilson, David Paterson

As designs for an institution and its spaces are considered, decision makers should seek a balance between offering areas for quiet work that requires intense concentration and for social engagement and the sharing of ideas.

From Volume 47 Number 4 | July–September 2019

Abstract: Using an administrative sustainability framework, we studied the decision process as it relates to space allocation. Those making the decision were academic faculty at a mid-sized urban Canadian university. We present recommendations for decision makers with resource allocation responsibilities.

Institutions Mentioned: Simon Fraser University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Canada, Space Assessment

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2019

Book Review: Research Universities and the Public Good

Discovery for an Uncertain Future

By: Karen E. Hinton

This book offers a good look inside the way research faculty view their role in the university. The perspectives shared are broadly applicable for all planners at post-secondary institutions, especially in their considering complex organizations that have both unlimited potential and finite resources.

From Volume 47 Number 4 | July–September 2019

Abstract: by Jason Owen-Smith
Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, CA 2018
213 pages
ISBN 9781503607095

Planning Types: Academic Planning, Resource Planning
Tags: Community Engagement, Higher Ed in Society

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2017

Teaching, Learning, Doing in Collaborative Spaces

By: David Moos,Kimberly Miller,Adam Fontecchio

The intermingling of undergraduate students with grad students, post-docs, faculty, and commercial interests in one innovative facility results in better academic experiences.

From Volume 45 Number 4 | July–September 2017

Abstract: Makerspaces designed for collaborative learning are appearing on campuses throughout the United States, including at Drexel University. These spaces succeed because they permit students to collaborate, observe, and learn from professors and peers. Unique to the Drexel project is the intermingling of engineering undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and commercial interests in one facility with laboratories, machine-shop equipment, and informal study areas. Facilities that give students great visibility into nearby research, contain areas where they can take breaks without leaving the building, and lend themselves to informal encounters with peers, faculty, and others result in better academic experiences for undergraduates.

Institutions Mentioned: Drexel University
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Adaptive Reuse, Facilities Design, Flexible Learning Spaces, Innovation Center, Learning Environments, Maker Space, Science / Engineering Facility

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2017

Collaborative Spaces Transform Teaching, Amplify Learning, and Maximize Resources

By: Andrea Leers

A wide range of interactive, hands-on, and socially enhanced settings provide space for the most effective and dynamic teaching and learning in higher education today.

From Volume 45 Number 4 | July–September 2017

Abstract: Leers Weinzapfel Associates recently talked with campus planners and facilities directors nationwide about the big issues driving campus planning. Rapidly evolving pedagogies are demanding radical rethinking of effective teaching and learning spaces. Better use and optimal configuration of these venues is key as the stereotypical “sage on the stage” mode of instruction rapidly expands through a wide range of interactive, hands-on, and socially enhanced settings. Several examples of the firm’s work—the University of Massachusetts Amherst John W. Olver Design Building, the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Stadium Drive Residence Hall, and the Wentworth Institute of Technology (Boston) Multipurpose Academic Building—substantiate these findings in practice.

Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Design, Fine and Performing Arts Facility, Flexible Learning Spaces, Informal Learning Environments, Interdisciplinary Learning Environments, Learning Environments, Student Housing

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2017

Enhancing the Student Experience in the Sciences

The Pennsylvania State University Creates a Nucleus for Student Education and Advising

By: Nicole M. Dress

Science education and science student retention are improved by transforming an underutilized campus space into an Academic Support Center that colocates critical undergraduate academic services.

From Volume 45 Number 4 | July–September 2017

Abstract: A critical concern of universities today is ensuring that students remain in their selected major and graduate promptly. In addition, there has been a renewed emphasis on scientific education presented to non-science majors. Through the renovation of the Ritenour Building, Penn State’s Eberly College of Science created an Academic Support Center as a hub of advising and assistance for prospective students, science majors, and science education. The center’s layout provides opportunities to share knowledge of science teaching with advising staff and the online learning department. The design of this space has been crafted to enhance these retention and educational goals.

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