Learning Resources

Abstract: Military veterans have received federal support to better prepare for success in higher education for nearly five decades. One such federal program, Veterans Upward Bound, has existed since the Johnson administration with a goal to increase veterans’ postsecondary education completion rates. Although there is clearly a demonstrated need for such efforts, the question remains whether these support programs are successful. This article explores federal reporting of programs designed to prepare veterans for the postsecondary learning environment in terms of goal achievement. Findings suggest inconsistent internal data collection methods, nonexistent outcome reporting, and conflicting data on veterans’ postsecondary success rates from non-government agencies.

Abstract: Academic programs should be the centrifugal force informing and driving the accomplishment of all other institutional plans. While financial, capital, and enrollment management plans are critical to institutional success, each is secondary to academic programs as a driving force. Institutions should simultaneously move toward “integrated planning” while developing a hierarchy of plans, with the academic program portfolio as primary. Undertaking more effective planning will require attention to several elements: operationalizing the mission, confronting the real issues, integrating resources into the plan, staying within institutional scope, quitting some programs and services, focusing on implementation and assessment, and maintaining a planning database for management purposes. The primacy of academic programs in the development of higher education plans will presage their success.

Abstract: Despite the fact that U.S. federal TRIO programs, like the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, aim to enrich academic spaces for underrepresented students, there are many challenges that minority students face as they move through the program pipeline. This article provides insight into programming efforts by the McNair program at the University of Texas-Austin through interviews with current and past McNair scholars. Furthermore, areas of improvement in planning and integration for local and national application are discussed using the example of UT-Austin’s Intellectual Entrepreneurship Consortium.

Abstract: Optimizing Academic Balance (OAB) analysis provides your institution with effective tools to use in making the strategic academic decisions needed to stay competitive in the context of your institutional mission, quality, market potential, cost, and revenue. Optimizing Academic Balance utilizes market potential data (inquiries, applicants, admitted students, enrolled students, juniors, and graduates) to measure demand for each of your majors using student credit hours (SCH) generated by program as a proxy for revenues and direct (faculty and departmental) costs for teaching each program. It may be applied to all academic program offerings—undergraduate, graduate, and non-traditional.

Abstract: The technical education system in Tennessee has received significant accolades for its students’ high completion and job placement rates. Key to this success is an integrated approach to planning that links academic programs to strong employment sectors in the region each campus serves. The 2014 Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology Statewide Master Plan combines regional job market analysis with input from faculty and administrators to generate recommendations for capital investments that respond to real needs in the local economy and ensure student success on campus and after graduation.

Abstract: More comprehensive than most master planning processes, Vision Integrated Planning (VIP) results in the broad and detailed development of a campus master plan framed by the realities of the institution’s internal and external environment. Beginning with and embracing the college’s vision, VIP sets out to understand the forces and issues that affect a college’s program offerings and the facilities used to serve the learning experiences of those programs. It then uses that understanding to develop a well-supported, integrated, and informed campus master plan. This article lays out the VIP process, citing examples where VIP has been employed and demonstrating the logic that frames the planning effort.

Abstract: Instructors have a responsibility to maximize student learning. Thus, to the extent that the characteristics of a classroom’s space facilitate or promote learning, instructors should be actively involved in the design and use of the space. This is especially the case as active learning activities are becoming more common. Principles are discussed in relation to functional seating arrangements; focal points and sight lines; acoustics; movement around, into, and out of the classroom; lighting; and windows. A list of principles for good classroom design from the instructor’s point of view is given at the end, and readers are invited to modify this list in a wiki.

Abstract: Student learning takes place both inside and outside of the classroom, yet a general understanding of student-user experiences in spaces outside of a classroom and the effect of those spaces on student experiences is limited. A collaborative research project conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology and Herman Miller, Inc., aimed to understand the modes of use and behaviors among students at the G. Wayne Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons (Clough Commons). In particular, researchers wanted to study the relationship between physical space and the user experience in that space. Researchers referred to this as the “lived experience” of Clough Commons. The research took place over the course of a semester, and methods included the application of digital ethnography tools, observation, walk-up user interviews, and analysis of existing building-use data. From our research, we developed 11 use modes that describe the user activities and behaviors in Clough Commons. The use modes are meant to help designers take a more empathetic approach to design and problem solving by understanding the lived experiences of students within physical spaces. Use modes can also uncover opportunities for improving the environment to best serve student engagement and interaction. In this article, we discuss the use modes and design recommendations from our research at Clough Commons and how they may be applicable to other learning environments.

Abstract: The Department of Architectural Science at Toronto’s Ryerson University was already committed to community engagement. However, the need for a permanent gallery provided a new catalyst. The collaborative nature of the integrated planning process provided the school with an opportunity to revisit its public programming mandate. The school’s transformation through the innovative physical positioning and use of the gallery deepens its dialogue and level of engagement both within the university and with the greater community.

Abstract: Until very recently, the idea of higher education as an economic catalyst has focused almost exclusively on land-grant colleges and research universities. In little more than a decade, the perceived economic development role of higher education has expanded from a narrow field of large elite research institutions to include small liberal arts colleges, many of which traditionally saw their role as a refuge from economic forces rather than as an active creator of them. Liberal arts colleges, and, in particular, public liberal arts colleges, now confront an entirely new set of expectations from the regions in which they are located.
Almost every college has some kind of catalytic role to play in its regional economy. However, in order to be accepted as an effective partner, a college’s economic development responses must be perceived as credible by the larger community, and in order to sustain campus support, they must be seen to add real value to the institution itself. This article provides an overview of the key issues that a liberal arts campus must address as it prepares to enter the economic development arena.