Learning Resources

Abstract: Industry and academia are partnering like never before as entrepreneurship and maker culture become more important to our economy and a regular fixture in higher education curricula. With the influx of allied industry partnerships, evolving pedagogies, entrepreneurship programs, and a maker culture comes a pressing need for new spaces, ranging from fabrication and prototyping studios to innovation districts devoted to new kinds of research partnerships. Schools like the University of Washington, Babson College, and Arizona State University are leading the way on new collaborations. In this article, Sasaki planners and urban designers examine how design disruption will guide the development of campuses that enable 21st-century teaching, learning, and research paradigms.

Abstract: Leers Weinzapfel Associates recently talked with campus planners and facilities directors nationwide about the big issues driving campus planning. Rapidly evolving pedagogies are demanding radical rethinking of effective teaching and learning spaces. Better use and optimal configuration of these venues is key as the stereotypical “sage on the stage” mode of instruction rapidly expands through a wide range of interactive, hands-on, and socially enhanced settings. Several examples of the firm’s work—the University of Massachusetts Amherst John W. Olver Design Building, the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Stadium Drive Residence Hall, and the Wentworth Institute of Technology (Boston) Multipurpose Academic Building—substantiate these findings in practice.

Abstract: With North Dakota experiencing a significant shortage in all health care-related fields, the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences replaced its aging facility with a new school in order to (1) increase enrollment by 25 percent, (2) attract and retain top-tier faculty and staff, (3) encourage inter-professional collaboration, (4) colocate all eight medical, health sciences, and basic sciences in one building, and (5) retain more in-state graduates. The facility is now a shared collaborative learning environment, the result of the university “rethinking everything” about how it delivered health sciences education.

Abstract: Colleges and universities are increasingly planning interdisciplinary, inter-college STEM facilities and need tools to address the special challenges that arise when dealing with a diverse set of users. This article discusses the importance of articulating a STEM vision as a means to prioritize building program components while maintaining project goals. It describes effective strategies for organizing diverse user groups, anticipating potentially challenging group dynamics, in a programming process that yields consensus about common goals and shared resources. It discusses layout strategies that support the mission of the building and an approach to STEM building governance that is independent of a particular college or department. The University of Mississippi is used as a case study.

Abstract: The imperative for higher education institutions to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions is driven by the energy required to sustain their campus facilities and by rapid, irreversible changes to the climate that threaten global infrastructures. This article provides a framework that comprehensively addresses campus facilities’ energy consumption reduction and conversion to renewable resources while helping building users become more aware of how their actions impact greenhouse gas emissions. Case studies illustrate how two different institutions developed campus energy master plans and set incremental goals toward carbon neutrality and net-zero fossil fuel energy consumption.

Abstract: Public-private partnerships—in which public and private sector entities partner to deliver a service or facility for the use of the general public—are spreading in the United States and elsewhere as cash-strapped public entities seek investment funds from private sources. However, it is important not to let immediate challenges and opportunities cause one to lose sight of long-term obligations. In this article, we underscore the importance of taking the long view and share lessons learned regarding finance, planning, and negotiation at institutions that have employed the P3 process. We also offer additional best practices regarding campus master planning to ensure a successful P3 process while maintaining the long-term integrity of the campus.

Abstract: Transdisciplinary learning is the next frontier in higher education. Our innovation economy is applying tremendous pressure on all types of organizations to innovate and re-innovate at increasing speed. Transdisciplinarity requires us to engage and co-depend on others to co-identify humanity’s challenges and co-investigate and co-implement solutions in integrated and collaborative processes. To adapt and succeed, higher education needs to shift to a transdisciplinary mind-set model of learning in new environments. The Transdisciplinary Atelier is a concept for understanding space as a facilitator of disciplinary integration that can be used by all universities and colleges whether in new or existing buildings.

Abstract: This article presents the research, design options, and space planning guidelines prepared for Montgomery College specifically for spaces designed to address the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. The guidelines cover gender-inclusive restrooms and locker facilities for transgender people, lactation rooms for nursing mothers, and serenity space for an increasing Muslim population and others. Extensive research conducted by Stantec and Inquiry2Solutions informed the guidelines. The research included a review of the college’s institutional policies and governance structure; interviews with students, faculty, and staff as well as colleagues across the United States and personnel from relevant professional associations; and discussions with associations that support the needs of LGBTQ students and institutions that have begun to address these kinds of space planning. Foremost, the planning team learned that there are few space planning guidelines to meet these needs.
Montgomery College is charting new territory with the adoption of these space planning guidelines and has helped establish an important benchmark in this emerging area of campus planning.

Abstract: The thickening and expanding digital layer of our world has prompted us to reevaluate how we navigate through it and also what, why, where, when, and how we read the things within it. In an institutional setting, reading for learning and research is no longer confined to the printed page or the campus; this has led to a hubbub by those who fear an embrace of digital technologies will in some way diminish students culturally, intellectually, creatively, and emotionally. Sorting through the hubbub, there is reason to be optimistic as examples abound of how the digital layer enhances learning and knowledge creation. Institutions have an important role here: they have the heft to help drive innovative practices, policies, technologies, materials, and spaces for reading now and tomorrow in this hybrid physical-digital information landscape.

Abstract: As efforts to stimulate innovation spring up across campuses, institutions need a comprehensive planning framework for the integrated planning of initiatives that support innovation. The campus can be viewed as an Innovation Landscape, and settings for collaborative creative activity—both physical and virtual—can infuse the campus fabric and become part of the daily experience of users. The Innovation Landscape Framework is a tool to help coordinate physical planning with organizational initiatives, engage a wide range of stakeholders, and enable a more widespread culture of innovation.