Learning Resources

Abstract: Urban innovation districts are becoming more prevalent at a time when universities must rethink the way they build. In this session, we will demonstrate how Drexel University used a mixed-use high rise building within an urban innovation zone to support growing enrollment. You will discover how to utilize mixed-use urban high-rises for creating innovative ecosystems for students, faculty and employers. Come learn how to create a vibrant academic environment within leased space and explore an innovative and cost-effective approach for future expansion and contraction at your institution.

Abstract: Within the last several years, higher education institutions have embraced the language of an “anchor mission” to define their place-based commitments. This case analysis details the role of data in promoting systematic local change in six institutions participating in the Anchor Dashboard Learning Cohort. These institutions committed to measuring community impact through the Anchor Dashboard, a tool to understand and enhance local commitments along several social and economic dimensions. This article details the promises and pitfalls of developing an institution-wide, place-based mission led from different institutional levels—from the president’s office to faculty-led centers—using this data tool.

Abstract: Public-Private Partnership (“P3”) procurement models for built infrastructure serving higher learning institutions started to gain attention in North America in the late 1990s—mostly as an alternative approach to adding student housing at select universities and colleges. More recently, P3 models have been applied to a diverse range of higher learning projects, with some serving core academic and research functions.

Although many institutions are considering P3 approaches among their options to address emerging pressures to expand or update their facilities, their implementation is not yet common. The researcher’s intention was to better understand P3 models and learn how they have performed, possibly generating some useful lessons for how P3 models can be applied with desired outcomes.

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.

Abstract: This article outlines the conception and creation of the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships at Philadelphia’s Drexel University. It details the university’s goal of becoming an academic leader in civic engagement through the transformation of an off-campus site of existing historic structures into a center for outreach services.
The discussion of the center’s implementation is divided into four sections to present a comprehensive description of its planning process, funding, and design:
- Planning for community engagement
- The idea: developing an extension center at a private urban university
- Creating a physical hub for neighborhood engagement
- Planning the facility
The article closes with a report on early outcomes that have been identified: the introduction of community dinners, the creation of a stakeholder advisory council, and the establishment of volunteer committees that are planning to host a visioning event that will feature a creative building process along with an opportunity for participants to review and revise the vision and goals outlined during the original planning process.

Abstract: Institutional mission influences college and university decision making by providing a shared sense of understanding about core values and aspirations. For institutions to maintain the benefits of having a clear mission, they must periodically revise and redefine the institutional purpose. This article compares the changing missions of two liberal arts colleges and reveals striking commonalities in how this process is accomplished. It also describes several factors that influence mission change.

Abstract: Four distinct waves can be discerned in the history of American higher education. The 85 years before the Civil War were characterized by the founding of hundreds of liberal arts colleges. The post–Civil War era saw the majority of these small colleges disappear, replaced by public land-grant schools. Around the turn of the last century, the giants of American industry led the founding of the great private research universities. The term "megaversity" entered the American lexicon after World War II, when thousands of returning GIs swelled the ranks of higher education; the second half of the 20th century also witnessed the proliferation of community colleges. The fifth great wave is now breaking, with for-profit competition and revolutionary teaching technologies among its main characteristics.

Abstract: This article reviews how one urban university campus sustained momentum and gained increasing levels of commitment and support from the campus community for its strategic plan. The focus of the article is a discussion of the multi-faceted communication plan used on campus to review progress on the plan, acknowledge successes, identify new challenges, set annual priorities, and link the plan and priorties with resources.