Learning Resources

Abstract: Historically, college and university classrooms have consisted of little more than a blackboard and antiquated seats. Many classrooms were constructed over 30-70 years ago with minor alterations. Over the next decade, modernizing of lecture, seminar, and classrooms is essential. They will then be more conducive to learning. A seven step strategy to modernize institutional classrooms exists. 1) Conduct a physical survey and inventory of all the teaching spaces. This includes room dimensions, furniture, room arangement, lighting, ventilation, and audiovisual equipment. 2) Conduct a utilization study. This measures whether classrooms are used to their full capacities. 3) Interview faculty and students to determine preferences. Professors and students now prefer to be closer to each other to promote exchanges. 4) Develop criteria for design including A. Physical Considerations; B. Environmental Factors; C. Furniture; and D. Audiovisual Equipment. Additionally, each category of design criteria should follow the four design requirements of function, focus, flexibility, and aesthetics. 5) Calculate estimates of renovation costs for each room. Planners must have specific architectural plans and rough estimates before renovation begins. 6) Start a program of renovation. A financially feasible renovation schedule should be followed--the rooms in the worst shape are scheduled first, with construction on two to five rooms a year over 5-10 years. 7) Once the renovation schedule begins, monitor the direction of the university to determine changes in classroom needs. The design and renovation of institutional classrooms are necessary to attract highly qualified faculty and students. Classrooms exhibiting a warm, attractive, and modern atmosphere enhance the learning enviroment.

Abstract: Book review: Strategic Analysis: Using Comparative Data to Understand You Institution, by Barbara Taylor, Joel Meyerson, Louis Morrell and Dabney Park, Jr. Association of Governing Boards, 1991. 217 pages.

Abstract: What the past twenty years of research have revealed about how colleges affect students. Subtitles: Implications for colleges; The importance of people; Arranging the environment; Improving the learning scene. Pull quotes: "Most surprising was that elite colleges and universities have scarcely any greater impact than other institutions." "Impact is partly a result of the way a student exploits the people, programs, facilities, and experiences of a college." "Any college can improve its outcomes, its 'quality'." "The first semester is a pivotal time." "Part-time jobs on campus have a net positive impact." "Institutions should avoid hugh residential towers." "A major shift in decision-making by administrators is needed."

Abstract: Book Review: Feminism Without Illusion, by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese. University of North Carolina Press, 1991. 326 pages. Educated in Romance: Women, Achievement, and College Culture, by Dorothy Holland and Margaret Eisenhart. University of Chicago Press, 1990. 252 pages.

Abstract: Book review: Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate, by Ernest Boyer. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1991. 147 pages.

Abstract: This book shows how a campus is defined through its physical image—buildings and landscapes are designed to communicate the institution's purpose, presence and domain as well as generate an image charged with symbolism. Design principals, methods, and procedures with wide applications are described. Two key design components, placemaking and placemaking, are used as the basis for numerous case studies. Originally published by John Wiley & Sons in 1992, re-published by SCUP in 2003.

In the new foreword, Dober notes that “there is an ever-widening realization that a distinctive sense of place can have a positive impact on recruiting and retaining students, faculty, staff, trustees, and governing boards.” That makes the reprinted-in-full edition of this 1992 campus planning classic a required reference for all who care about the planning and development of an institution's buildings, grounds, and surroundings.

Richard Dober (1928–2014) was a planning and design advisor to more than 450 colleges, universities, and cultural institutions worldwide, as well as to foundations and government agencies, the World Bank, and UNESCO. He wrote nine books and numerous articles on planning and design and was a founder of the Society for College and University Planning. He led consulting firms since the early 1960s, including most recently, Dober Lidsky Mathey, a firm specializing in campus planning and facility planning services.

Abstract: Book review: The Role of Student Affairs in Institution Wide Enrollemtn Strategies, edited by Alan Galsky. National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 1991. 131 pages.