Learning Resources

Abstract: Management author and professor Peter Drucker is often quoted as saying that “culture eats strategy for lunch.” Given the extraordinary demands on higher education to adopt strategies that deliver better results with fewer resources and the common resistance of our institutions to strategic change, leaders and planners would do well to actively engage in processes of cultural change. This requires three things: a genuine understanding of the origins of institutional culture as expressed in the “deep architecture” of our colleges and universities; a systematic approach to initiating “courageous conversations” throughout the institution, leveraged by evidence that creates both hope and despair; and a willingness to reengineer the deep architecture around a new set of design principles, displacing the old culture with a new, intentional, emerging culture built on new working theories.

Abstract: Mobile is quickly becoming the dominant computing and communications platform. Starting in 2013, it is projected that smartphone shipments will outpace those of PCs. With this shift comes a corresponding shift in expectations from higher education users. We cannot afford to sit back and do nothing. Instead, we need to embrace this critical evolution in technology and harness it to the best advantage of our students, faculty, and institutions. An undertaking of this complexity and criticality requires a deliberate plan, but the plan will need to be highly flexible and able to quickly adjust to this constantly evolving and shifting landscape.

Abstract: The management of change and the evaluation of performance outcomes in higher education are most successful when a set of reference institutions against which to benchmark is identified. This article discusses a method by which a focal institution can identify other institutions that are most similar to itself. This methodology identifies the nearest institutional neighbors using a balanced set of measures from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). A case study is used to demonstrate the methodology. Readers will find this methodology to be robust and flexible, as well as easy to understand and explain to others. It is a hybrid method that integrates judgment and analytical techniques.

Abstract: College and university leaders currently face the most challenging fiscal, monetary, and legislative climate in memory. Leaders must manage the academic and financial resources of the enterprise with far more deft than their predecessors. For many campuses, additional resources will need to be created from within the existing financial boundaries of the institution. The overhead coverage matrix presented in the article is positioned as a tool to assist in making decisions related to strategic resource management. To demonstrate the utility of the overhead coverage matrix, a hypothetical example of resource planning is presented as a walkthrough.

Abstract: As an industry, information technology (IT) innovates constantly, and IT departments in higher education need to integrate new technologies into teaching, learning, research, and business practices in rapid succession while maintaining existing technologies without interruption. By pursuing complementary and interdependent processes for IT governance, strategic planning, and leadership development, a university or college can create foundational long-term IT planning capabilities that support the mission of the institution. This article describes a multifaceted approach to establishing long-term IT planning capabilities, explores the components of building long-range IT governance, identifies strategies for leadership development for IT professionals, and demonstrates how collaborative IT planning is a fundamental component of integrated planning for higher education.

Abstract: This article describes the planning process undertaken at a large, regional comprehensive university to create a space within existing buildings aimed at improving student success in introductory mathematics. It demonstrates the need for integrated planning grounded in academic priorities and student success models.

Abstract: For the last 15 years, the University System of Georgia (USG) has implemented its campus master plan template, which includes traditional space planning methodologies, with the assistance of many different consultants. This experience has caused the system to question the value of traditional approaches in guiding capital allocation resource decisions. Many USG institutions function reasonably well with far less space in some categories than traditional guidelines recommend, calling into question the orthodoxy surrounding space “needs.” Different consultants report wildly differing estimates of needs for institutions with similar missions, enrollments, and program mix. Moreover, these needs far exceed available capital. In response, the system has formulated a new methodology for measuring the utilization of space to guide space management and capital allocation decisions for individual institutions and the system as a whole. The goal was to create a process that is understandable, easy to implement, and less prone to distortion that existing methodologies, whose calculations are often complicated and unclear. The new approach includes an overlay taxonomy that groups spaces with similar functions into buckets to minimize the effects of miscategorizations and to provide the atomic units for new utilization metrics, greatly reducing the overall number of required measurements and providing information reflective of modern space usage. The resulting metrics provide new thinking, particularly for classroom and social spaces.

Abstract: With the advent of potential new federal mandates for stormwater treatment, campuses are seeking to find new strategies for overall water management. This article defines strategies for Integrated Water Management (IWM) at the watershed scale and argues that planners should look to cultural landscape precedents and pre-settlement hydrology for holistic solutions in both energy and water conservation. Using the Universities of Wisconsin and Louisville as case studies, the article outlines IWM strategies that respect each campus’s historic landscape while meeting future needs. The article concludes with next steps for integrating building and site systems for “regenerative” design that improves the air, soil, and water quality.

Abstract: The most successful campus housing supports the academic development of students, but also acts as a venue for personal and social growth. So what kind of common spaces can support students whose main form of engagement happens on their smart phones? The Massachusetts State College Building Authority, which designs and constructs all of the student life facilities for the system's nine campuses, hired an architect and planner to evaluate its residential buildings and characterize the public spaces that were most successful in terms of student engagement. Attributes identified in the study—proximity, variety, "ownership," and flexible furniture, to name a few—are universally applicable in the design of engaging residential common spaces.