Learning Resources

Abstract: In this session, we will discuss a process that any campus can use for creating a place for students to generate ideas and solve problems such as researching needs, crafting vision, planning spaces and services, piloting programs, and designing spaces. You will learn how to identify student needs; make a case for purposeful programming, services, and space that support innovation and problem-solving; and possess greater comfort with risk-taking and ambiguity as well as deliver mission-critical activities.

Abstract: Have we heard from enough people? Sometimes leaders ask this question to seek consensus or in the hope of making a tough call easy with more data. But this is the wrong question to ask. A better question is, “Have we talked to the right people?” In this article, we discuss how institutions can research their “lead users” whose extreme behaviors today will be the norm tomorrow. Using a case study rethinking Georgia Tech’s library services, spaces, and staffing, we explain who lead users are, how to identify them, how to research them to uncover insights, and how they can champion innovation on your campus.

Abstract: This article provides a survey of innovative approaches to campus transportation in the United States. The high costs of parking expansion have propelled many institutions toward a transportation demand management strategy, using parking pricing, transit passes for students and employees, and investment in bicycle infrastructure to shift many trips from single-occupant automobiles to other modes of travel. These institutions have experienced multiple benefits, including lower transportation costs, lower environmental impacts, and improved community relations.

Abstract: In response to student and faculty complaints about the amount of time available to travel between classes, an analysis of the time between classes problem was conducted at a large, public research university. Using facilities, course scheduling, and student survey data, we discovered that many students had distances to travel between classes that would normally take longer than the allotted 10 minutes. This forced them to leave class early, arrive to class late, or skip class altogether and often left them with an inadequate amount of time to complete exams. These analyses supported a decision to implement a policy regarding student scheduling.

Abstract: An innovative approach to the capital planning process will determine the future physical character of an institution and the capability of facilities to support its programs.

Abstract: Higher education institutions are urged to adopt mangement innovations but little is empirically know about the degree to which they do so. This study intergrates and triangulates several data sources in a an attempt to identify to identify the extent to which one mangement innovation, Total Quality Management/ Continuous Quality Improvement (TQM/CQI) actuallya has been adopted in the administrative practices of colleges and universities. We also assess adoption rate among institutions of different types, and propse several reasons for the differences discovered by this study. The data indicate that TQM/CQI has not been adopted to the extent claimed by some of its supporters, and suggested that claims of adoption of future innovations should be viewed skeptically rather than accepted uncritically.

Abstract: Examines traditional assumptions underlying space management and proposes an alternative approach to projecting space use. Specifically, the author recommends making projections based on space per faculty rather than space per student, and then comparing these projections with the space allocation at peer institutions. Problems with traditional methods of space allocation are discussed, as is the process of implementing this approach and identifying comparable institutions.