Learning Resources

Abstract: Makerspaces designed for collaborative learning are appearing on campuses throughout the United States, including at Drexel University. These spaces succeed because they permit students to collaborate, observe, and learn from professors and peers. Unique to the Drexel project is the intermingling of engineering undergraduates, graduate students, post-docs, faculty, and commercial interests in one facility with laboratories, machine-shop equipment, and informal study areas. Facilities that give students great visibility into nearby research, contain areas where they can take breaks without leaving the building, and lend themselves to informal encounters with peers, faculty, and others result in better academic experiences for undergraduates.

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Strategic partnerships are a smart fiscal and educational move for higher education institutions. Many of the nation’s community colleges have long explored symbiotic arrangements that benefit student, community, and school. This article examines three schools’ interactions with their host communities and explores how partnerships help deliver on their role as a true community amenity—from providing their students with state-of-the-art learning environments and working with industry leaders to enhance curricula to reaching a geographically disadvantaged demographic of potential students. Partnership opportunities are broad and plentiful and are often only limited by an institution’s imagination.