Learning Resources

Abstract: This session will discuss how Michigan State University re-envisioned 140 acres through an integrated planning and exploratory design process that required continual adaptation. When building a vision for large land parcel redevelopment as a mixed-use, vibrant district, it is important to have an adaptive planning process with strong leadership and inclusive dialogue. We will show you how to see your institution's land from a new perspective, apply fresh ideas about mixed-use campus space, and use an integrated planning process to build consensus in times of change.

Abstract: In an effort to address ambitious campus sustainability goals, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) creatively balanced physical campus growth and renewal with a policy prohibiting new square footage. The results continue to exceed expectations. The master planning process can help the university achieve sustainability in the face of shrinking resources, all while developing a physical environment that fosters student learning and wellbeing. We will share our insights on leveraging the planning process to spur institutional change in financial, procurement, and planning matters.

Abstract: Interdisciplinary scientific research is the new normal in academia. Campus planning for interdisciplinary research requires special tools and analytics that align the needs of increasingly diverse research environments with existing facilities capabilities and new characterizations of research neighborhoods. To remain relevant within the world-wide scientific community, campuses must free research space planning from traditional boundaries in order to promote collaborative synergies. This session will introduce new analytical assessment tools, organizational principles, and planning strategies supporting interdisciplinary research. Come learn how to create an open-ended, actionable, and living planning document that ensures long-term relevance and viability.

Abstract: Harvard University’s Smith Campus Center has repurposed an entire city block, providing innovative new spaces for collaboration and a welcoming “front door” to the university. The campus center has been transformative for Harvard, revitalizing a prominent site at the campus's crossroads and providing the wider community of 44,000 people with new central gathering and events spaces. Come learn how we successfully navigated stakeholder outreach and generated a design solution within the existing building.

Abstract: Learn the things you need to do to get ready and stay ready! Numerous recent campus disruptions, outages, and disasters have highlighted the importance of investing in the proactive risk management solution known as academic continuity planning. Go beyond theory and concepts to the actual integrated mechanics and step-by-step methodology for developing and maintaining operational-level continuity plans. Cultivate integration with a service designed specifically to support the need for higher education institutions to be prepared. Is your campus ready?

Abstract: The commonly-used expression “going to college” affirms that higher education is still rooted in place. Our institutions have three cultures in which learners physically immerse themselves: collegiate culture (a generational culture); academic culture (an intellectual culture); and campus culture (an institutional culture). Other agents—the armed forces and the work place, for instance—also acculturate young adults, but colleges and universities alone nurture academic culture. For this reason, the design of campus places as learning spaces becomes a critical issue. We must be endlessly inventive in creating and celebrating the cultures of place in academic life.

Abstract: Campus chapels once bespoke a school’s curriculum, defined the student body, contributed to ambiance, and served as a recruitment tool for parents looking to religion to influence their children’s character. As schools strayed from their religious roots, encountered pressing program needs, and faced funding concerns, many of these rarely used buildings fell into disrepair. In the last few years, efforts to preserve an institution’s heritage, maximize space, and address spirituality have led schools to consider restoring and reusing campus chapels. This article focuses on keeping the chapel’s original design intent while capitalizing on its strengths to upgrade the building and supplement its usage.

Abstract: Today, the amount of space devoted to research at research universities exceeds that of classrooms and class laboratories. This research space portfolio presents important policy and management challenges. As stewards of this portfolio, universities must address issues of funding the construction of research facilities, equipping and maintaining them, allocating and accounting for space used for research, and managing, in broadest terms, the physical and administrative infrastructure in which research is conducted. As this article illustrates, managing the balance between the growing demand for and the supply of research space is complicated. To address the issues of research space, universities have developed a variety of space management methods to fit their unique research missions, priorities, and operational culture. This article provides important insights into this little studied aspect of higher education space planning. The article is an overview of research space management across the U. S. on general campuses and in health science centers. It is based on interviews with senior administrators in selected research universities conducted specifically for this study, information about research space management available on university documents on the Internet, and on the work of Ira Fink and Associates, Inc. in programming research facilities on a multitude of campuses nationwide.