Learning Resources

Abstract: Postsecondary institutions are increasingly becoming more diverse. To ensure that the campus culture is appreciative of such diversity, many institutions are including language in their policies and implementing programs that demonstrate their commitment to diversity. One such means for communicating institutional commitment to diversity is through the strategic plan. As the basis for establishing institutional priorities and determining which initiatives get funded, the strategic plan can reflect the institution’s true commitment to diversity by purposefully incorporating plans for diversity throughout the document. This research sought to understand what was already being done in regard to diversity and strategic planning at both the system and individual institution level so that information can be relayed about what works and has the greatest impact and therefore should be considered when developing a strategic plan that pays attention to and appreciates diversity. Findings suggest that although institutions are including diversity initiatives in their strategic plans, there needs to be greater attention paid to diversity within the strategic plan.

Abstract: Higher education is undergoing many sector-level changes while under growing pressure as a whole to demonstrate or improve institutional performance. Increasingly, private-sector industry organizations are applying portfolio management to their organizational resources as a strategy to improve performance. Although not formally recognized in practice or in the literature as portfolio management, the activity of prioritizing academic and administrative programs in higher education applies the principles of economic portfolio theory and private-industry portfolio management to the higher education sector. A small number of higher education institutions have undertaken academic program prioritization. Little empirical research exists to understand the use of portfolio management in higher education or its effectiveness in improving institutional performance. This study examines the characteristics of 62 institutions that have identified a need to intentionally manage and prioritize their portfolio of academic and administrative programs to improve institutional performance. The purpose of this study is to identify any relationship between the identified need to manage the organizational portfolio and certain institutional characteristics that have been found through empirical research to be predictors of institutional performance challenges. A wealth of research opportunities exists in the organizational portfolio management domain; recognizing the characteristics of institutions that identify a need to manage their portfolio of academic and administrative programs is a step toward filling the gap in the research and informing resource decision making.

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.

Abstract: Collaborative partnerships can yield enormous benefits for campus projects involving complex uses and implementation strategies. When visions are aligned, public-private partnerships can leverage initial assumptions into more ambitious programs to meet placemaking, sustainability, and other goals. The story of the successful UC Davis West Village partnership between the University of California and its developer partner, West Village Community Partnership, LLC (WVCP), serves to illustrate the unanticipated directions made possible by diverse talents, resources, and points of view.

Abstract: This article outlines the conception and creation of the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships at Philadelphia’s Drexel University. It details the university’s goal of becoming an academic leader in civic engagement through the transformation of an off-campus site of existing historic structures into a center for outreach services.
The discussion of the center’s implementation is divided into four sections to present a comprehensive description of its planning process, funding, and design:
- Planning for community engagement
- The idea: developing an extension center at a private urban university
- Creating a physical hub for neighborhood engagement
- Planning the facility
The article closes with a report on early outcomes that have been identified: the introduction of community dinners, the creation of a stakeholder advisory council, and the establishment of volunteer committees that are planning to host a visioning event that will feature a creative building process along with an opportunity for participants to review and revise the vision and goals outlined during the original planning process.

Abstract: This article uses the planning process for the International Living-Learning Center (ILLC) at Oregon State University (OSU) to describe how the needs of international students are being served through residential living-learning communities. The number of international students enrolled in the United States has increased 43 percent over the past decade to a record high of over 800,000 students. Colleges and universities across the country are recruiting international students, but for these efforts to be successful, postsecondary institutions must support the students as they navigate a new cultural landscape. OSU and INTO University Partnerships (IUP), a private company from the United Kingdom that partners with higher education institutions, decided to plan for the students’ success by creating specialized housing facilities, both physically and with specialized residential programming. By examining the integrated planning process for the unique services this facility offers, this article will help postsecondary institutions plan for facilities and programs catering to international students on their own campuses.

Abstract: The University of Pittsburgh is committed to improving its Division I varsity sports venues and intramural sports and recreational facilities to meet the needs of student athletes, the general student body, staff, and faculty. In 2004, the university completed an Athletic and Recreation Facilities Master Plan. Since its completion, the document has guided the university’s development and renovation efforts on the Upper Campus. However, facilities for these programs remain a pressing need. Given its accomplishments since the completion of the 2004 master plan, the university determined that it needed to revisit and revise the plan to address unresolved issues, take on new challenges, and explore new opportunities that achieve the following objectives: strengthen the geographic definition of the university’s athletic campus within the greater context of the campus as a whole; optimize the university’s limited land and facilities assets such as Trees Field, the OC Lot, Petersen Sports Complex, Trees Hall, Fitzgerald Field House, and other potential sites to identify the highest and best use to meet current and future academic, athletic, and recreational program deficiencies; improve efficiencies in existing facilities where space has been vacated due to the construction of new facilities; and determine where consolidation and cross-departmental sharing is warranted and where space is suited for renovation and reuse.

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.