Learning Resources

Campus Historic Preservation and Adaptive Reuse

Leverage These Tools to Achieve Your Planning and Sustainability Goals

By: Meaghan Finney, MS, and Michael Patrick, M.Arch, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP

By integrating historic buildings into your campus planning, their continued reuse can help solve some of the specific challenges facing university planners today.

From Volume 50 Number 4 | July–September 2022

Abstract: Historic campus buildings are often perceived as a burden, but by integrating them into your campus planning, their continued reuse can help solve some of the specific challenges facing university planners today, specifically in the context of sustainability. There are numerous case studies that demonstrate the successful adaptive reuse of varied campus buildings as well as an undeniable body of evidence showing the benefits of such an approach in working toward carbon neutrality. As long-term stewards of their built environments, colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to realize enduring savings from investing in the energy performance of existing buildings.

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Social Equity and the Modern Campus

Framework Plans Level the Playing Field for All Students

By: Brodie Bain, MArch, FAIA, AICP, LEED AP

Campus framework plans for Oregon State University and Bellevue College fully integrate social equity with engagement processes and physical solutions to improve the sense of welcome and inclusion.

From Volume 50 Number 4 | July–September 2022

Abstract: The article explores campus design implications for socially equitable college and university environments. Two institutions that carry the value of social equity as dominant themes in their mission and strategic plans are showcased. Bellevue College’s equity plan acts as the cornerstone for social justice on campus. Oregon State University’s new Strategic Plan 4.0 includes sense of belonging and inclusion as core values. For both, the physical campus framework plans, used to guide campus development and design over time, fully integrate social equity through processes of engagement and physical solutions that improve a sense of welcome and inclusion.

Institutions Mentioned: Oregon State University, Bellevue College
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Alignment, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Facilities Design, Facilities Planning, Landscape / Open Space, Placemaking, Student Experience, Underserved Students

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Seven Lessons in Inclusive Campus Design

Learn How the University of Kentucky Developed Its First DEI Facilities and Spaces Plan

By: Mary Anne Ocampo, MArch, MAUD | Mary S. Vosevich, MBA | Katrice Albert, PhD

Institutions are starting to grapple with histories of developing indigenous lands and the legacy of an able-bodied vernacular within campus design that continues to reinforce in-groups and out-groups.

From Volume 50 Number 3 | April–June 2022

Abstract: A global health crisis intersecting with a racial reckoning has led to a renewed commitment to reflect on complex histories and plan for more inclusive futures on many American campuses. Institutions, which benefitted from traditional hierarchies of power, are starting to grapple with histories of developing indigenous lands and the legacy of a western and able-bodied vernacular within campus design that continues to reinforce in-groups and out-groups. The authors are presently leading first-of-their-kind DEI planning initiatives; in this article they unpack how a public institution is meeting their past head-on to plan better futures.

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Getting in the eGame

Esports Streaming Gives the University of Kentucky a New Way to Grow Revenue and Recruit Students

By: Michael Stewart, BS, and Heath Price, MS

The University of Kentucky understood the importance of technology in preparing students for the digital world. With public-private partnerships, it sought opportunities to be an industry leader in leveraging that capacity for its students, faculty, staff, and the community.

From Volume 50 Number 2 | January–March 2022

Abstract: The University of Kentucky (UK) and the University of Kentucky Esports Club worked together to establish the University of Kentucky Esports Lounge. Students were surveyed on their gaming needs, and the resulting wish list (i.e., equipment selection, space configuration, furniture, etc.) fed into the decision-making process by all constituents. The project budget was derived by a larger construction project at the University that focused on student recruitment, community, and connection to the non-student demographic. The UK team ultimately planned and launched the custom facility to meet users’ particular needs—while finding a way for the University to produce an additional revenue stream.

Institutions Mentioned: University of Kentucky
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Facilities Funding, Facilities Planning, Mixed-Use, New Program or Department, Planning Processes, Public-Private Partnerships (P3), Recreational Facility, Shared Facilities, Student Life / Student Affairs, Technology

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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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Telling the Untold Stories

George Mason University Frames the Conversation Around Its Institutional Namesake and His Legacy

By: Cathy Pinskey and Stephanie Wolfgang

Through historical study, outreach, and education, undergraduate students at George Mason University began research that developed into the Enslaved Children of George Mason Project. The goal was to broaden the university narrative, encourage discussion about American ideals of equality and freedom, and transform a complex historical legacy and memorial into an inclusive campus place for reflection and dialogue.

From Volume 48 Number 3 | April–June 2020

Abstract: This article discusses the processes and outcomes of recent efforts at George Mason University (GMU) to acknowledge and celebrate the lives of those individuals enslaved by the institution’s namesake. In an era of intense debate surrounding the legacies of historical figures in the United States, GMU seeks to set the example for one approach to dealing with the conversations: community-fostering dialogue. We discuss the use of sculptural elements to create a new monument that sits in discourse with an existing statue of George Mason IV, highlighting how undergraduate student research efforts can be leveraged to address topics of value to today’s campus communities.

Institutions Mentioned: George Mason University
Planning Types: Campus Planning, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning
Tags: Active Learning, Engaging Stakeholders, Landscape / Open Space, Racial Equity

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Relic or Relevant

Is Stanford University’s Main Quad Still a Place for Community Engagement?

By: Sapna Marfatia, Maggie Burgett, and Margaret Dyer-Chamberlain

The university’s founders specified that the space that would become the Main Quad, along with its buildings, should facilitate human discourse and connection. Has it reached across generations to remain an active place for student life?

From Volume 48 Number 1 | October–December 2019

Abstract: The quadrangle is a medieval-European legacy adapted by American universities during the nineteenth century. Given technological advances and changes in society, is the nineteenth-century icon changing? Will the American campus look different in the future? With a selected group of students, faculty, alumni, and staff, we discussed the relevance—past, present, and future—of Stanford University’s Main Quadrangle—as a venue for discourse and community engagement. Despite it being a relic, we concluded that the Main Quad continues to be the heart of the Stanford campus community.

Institutions Mentioned: Stanford University, University of Oxford
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Landscape / Open Space

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2018

Building Community

Defining, Designing, Developing UniverCity

By: Glenn Miller

From Volume 46 Number 4 | July–September 2018

Institutions Mentioned: Simon Fraser University, Simon Fraser University-Burnaby, University of British Columbia
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Mixed-Use, Student Housing

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
July 1, 2018

Enhancing the Student Experience Through Placemaking

Georgia Tech’s West Village Dining Commons

By: Lesley Braxton

Students thrive in authentic, multifunctional spaces that foster both individual reflection and social interaction and further the connection between place and the human experience.

From Volume 46 Number 4 | July–September 2018

Institutions Mentioned: Georgia Institute of Technology
Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Dining Facility, Facilities Design, Mixed-Use, Placemaking

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Planning for Higher Education Journal

Published
January 1, 2018

College Campus Landscapes Within a Learning Ecosystem

By: Kathleen G. Scholl,Gowri Betrabet Gulwadi

College campus landscapes may help restore student attentional capacity for learning when intentionally viewed as educational resources or integrated with academic content.

From Volume 46 Number 2 | January–March 2018

Abstract: College campus landscapes are touted as symbols of “greenness,” displaying trees, vegetation, and flowering bushes for aesthetic appeal. Features such as a lawn to sit on between classes or a tree to gather under for course sessions may collectively and purposefully enhance student capacity for cognitive functioning and information processing or, simply, “learning.” In a place of learning where virtual environments and campus landscapes coexist, attention is an essential element of perceptual and cognitive operations. A key goal of the study described in this article is to better understand how to leverage regular and purposeful interactions with campus landscapes to help restore student attentional capacity for learning.

Planning Types: Campus Planning
Tags: Landscape / Open Space, Learning Environments

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