Learning Resources

Abstract: When St. Cloud State University found itself with too much aging infrastructure but not enough right-sized spaces or enough funding or rationale for new facilities, their comprehensive facilities planners took a deep dive into data. They used a highly inclusive process to create a CFP that guided strategic decisions and shifted institutional culture.

Abstract: Managing a facility inventory can be frustrating, particularly when it seems like money to properly maintain your buildings is scarce. Tracking and communicating facilities data to stakeholders can make all the difference for both annual maintenance and capital expenditures. For Alamo Colleges, it resulted in $17 million more for maintenance funding over 10 years, and the passing of a $450 million-bond program. This article explains how to conduct a comprehensive facility condition assessment, use the data from that assessment to identify needs, and then communicate those needs to stakeholders in a convincing way.

Abstract: While nontraditional students now make up the majority of most student bodies, we continue to use physical planning outreach and engagement tools designed for traditional students. This session shares how we developed new practices and tools to deliver better campus experiences for students from nontraditional backgrounds, yielding social equity in campus planning and building design. You will learn about new physical planning engagement and assessment tools that reveal and remedy the disparities nontraditional students encounter in their lives on campus.

Abstract: Fostering conversation and engagement transcends merely providing gathering spaces—it’s about cultivating an ethos of wellness, inclusivity, and sustainability, as modeled by the Mashouf Wellness Center at San Francisco State University. Explore how a single project—in this case the first major ground-up building in 24 years—models wellness, inclusion, and sustainability for other projects, plans, and policies on an evolving campus. We will share approaches to engaging students in an inclusive design process and strategies for designing spaces that encourage discourse and cultivate an ethos of inclusivity and wellness.

Abstract: We are all invited to take the stage in some form in our lives, whether that be in an interview for work, a speech at a wedding, or simply asking a question in a business meeting or classroom setting. We all have ideas, questions or explorations which we hold back from sharing because our brains are hardwired to prioritize acceptance by our peers and avoid rejection and ridicule. Sometimes, this keeps us safe—but more often than not—it keeps us from truly stepping into a life of opportunity.

The first major theme of the presentation is the psychology of fear. What makes so many of our hands shake, our body’s fidget and our minds forget our words once so perfectly rehearsed? It is an evolutionary response, developed eons ago, designed to protect us. Public speaking asks us to do the one thing we are hard-wired not to do – step outside of the tribe and ask to be invited back in. As relatively weak and slow planetary beings, we survived only in community. Public speaking is the most vulnerable and scary thing that we can do. We will explore the role of this response and how it “shows up” for us in our modern-day world and body and four scientifically-proven ways to shift out of fear and into action using both science and story to address the “hack”.

The second major presentation theme is the role of nonverbal communication. Research shows that over 93% of communication is nonverbal, demonstrating that our brains are wired to prioritize nonverbal over verbal communication. But as presenters, we focus on what we say – rather than how we say it. We engage in fun-partner work to learn how our brains are specifically attuned to body language – and the signals that we are unintentionally demonstrating while speaking from a place of fear or anxiety.

The presentation is concluded with a challenge: to invite each audience member to make one commitment to themselves to lean in towards one area of fear in their life, whether that’s practicing a strategy at home or stepping onto the stage to share their message with the world.

Abstract: Locating K12 academic programs on a university campus with access to advanced facilities helps students at all stages of learning thrive from synergies supported by integrated learning and teaching environments. We will discuss the development of facilities to support K12 programs on a university campus, provide principles for creating multi-generational learning institutions, and translate the process of inquiry to fulfilling a university’s mission.

Abstract: This session describes how we used data visualization to spark critical conversations as we evolved 1960s-era space guidelines into modern approaches. Key aspects of the space planning process at California State University-Chico were facilitated through data-informed discussions involving demographics and space analytics, which were used to align our plan with strategic directions, pedagogy, and anticipated resources. We'll share how space and campus planning discussions can be informed by environmental scanning tools, benchmarking, data visualization techniques, and scenario-based modeling.

Abstract: In the competitive higher education landscape, a prospective student's campus experience is a defining moment in a daunting decision-making process. Colorado University (CU) embedded its new admissions center and auditorium in an academic building central to the campus. CU’s strategy impacts both prospective students and influences broader institutional life. We will discuss the planning and design of CU's Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE), providing an example of thoughtful intra-institutional discourse focused on institutional values.

Abstract: Cross-cultural collaboration is critical training for tomorrow’s leaders. This session is about the challenges and opportunities associated with designing the Beijing home for a newly established international fellowship program—Schwarzman Scholars—at Tsinghua University. The design and construction process exemplified methods for harmonizing Eastern and Western principles, customs, and cultures. The project team was, in many ways, the first class of Schwarzman Scholars. You will leave the session with a strong sense of the challenges and opportunities of planning an academic facility and program simultaneously.