Learning Resources

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: Book Review: Managing the facilities Portfolio: A Practical Approach to Institutional Facility Renewal and Deferred Maintenance, by Sean Rush. NACUBO, 1991. 100 pages.

Abstract: Book review: The Learning Industry: Education fro Adult Workers, by Nell Eurich. Princeton University Press, 1990. 298 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: Access Through Innovation: New Colleges for New Student, by James W. Hall. ACE/Macmillan, 1991. 179 pages.