Learning Resources

Abstract: After considering the pandemic’s impacts—in particular, new financial constraints and shifting space expectations—it become clear that Florida State University’s relatively recent master plan needed to be reimagined.

Revising a master plan isn’t usually innovative, but Florida State’s holistic approach is. By engaging the whole institution in the conversation, the master plan reset will ensure that the values and aspirations of the institution are reflected in a built environment that not only meets program needs, but supports and sustains the innovation necessary for post-pandemic realities. The result? A master plan that includes almost no new buildings, rethinks how entire programs work, and drives discipline back into departmental aspirations.

Abstract: Entrepreneuring the Future of Higher Education: Radical Transformation in Times of Profound Change
by Mary Landon Darden
Rowman & Littlefield: Lanham, MD: 2021
202 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4758-5494-7

Abstract: When the pandemic forced students, faculty, and staff off campus in March 2020, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) had just begun initial investments to implement the first phases of its recently completed master plan. What impacts would the pandemic have on the master plan, space planning, and the delivery of VCU's core mission? While VCU adapted and planned for a return to campus, Richmond became a center of social unrest with protests throughout VCU's campuses. Join us to discuss how VCU changed its planning strategies and built campus environment to simultaneously address a public health crisis and calls for social reform.

Abstract: In difficult times, planning and the successful implementation of that planning require the buy-in and support of a whole range of stakeholders–but particularly the faculty, since they carry out the institution’s teaching and research missions.

Faculty can make or break successful planning.

An institution must be very circumspect in their choice of representative faculty for planning groups, how they are engaged in the planning process, and how they interact with other campus constituencies for maximum buy-in. This endeavor is particularly difficult when the new planning process follows previous attempts that have failed because of faculty resistance or lack of meaningful involvement. This session details successful planning initiatives at two regional universities, one in the Midwest and one in the southern Northeast, where earlier planning efforts failed because of “the faculty factor.”

Join us to explore the successes and failures involved in these two planning initiatives that required broad-based faculty support in order to reverse issues with programmatic quality, student success, and institutional accreditation.

Abstract: Having been on both the inside of regional accreditation and outside looking back on it, Lynn Priddy knows that accreditation has long tried to revolutionize itself, while at the same time increasingly becoming subject to federal regulatory burdens and expectations from the Department of Education. That has backed it into becoming a bureaucracy at the very time it needed to break out to focus on innovation, learning, and student success.

Abstract: Nobody knows when campus will return to full capacity, but in the short term, there are things that can be done to bring students, faculty and staff back smartly and appropriately. Campus life will look different, but what’s wrong with different? We want our students to feel safe, supported, stay healthy while maintaining a different on-campus experience for every student.

Abstract: Like every other institution, Paradise Valley Community College shifted to deal with COVID-19. But unlike some other institutions, they are looking ahead with excitement.

President Paul Dale explains how he and his Future Thinkers team are finding the pandemic’s silver lining in an exploration of new learning modalities and creative use of technology that they plan to leverage to meet the college’s mission far beyond the crisis.

Abstract: With climate change bringing dramatic demographic, economic, and weather changes, universities and colleges must be prepared for risks to the campus's buildings, landscapes, and infrastructure that could disrupt operations. This session explores the intertwined concepts of risk management and resilience planning. You will learn about best practices in campus resilience planning, and try a simple resilience assessment tool for identifying, prioritizing, and planning for potential risks. You can take this useful Excel-based tool back to your institution to identify the top risks that should be prioritized in campus planning efforts.

Abstract: The consolidation of administrative services into a centralized shared services model is increasingly common. Unfortunately, this move can be a rocky one, often encountering resistance and skepticism. Our session will focus on the implementation and optimization of a shared services model for academic services from both sides of the change—a person on the team leading the change and a key stakeholder undergoing the change. This session will provide you with information, skills, and approaches to ensure a pain-free implementation of a shared services model.