Learning Resources

Abstract: In this session, we will demonstrate how Rutgers University aligned its development model with city planning initiatives to be a partner in urban renewal at its Camden and Newark campuses. With cities around the country struggling to effect urban renewal, Rutgers University has shown how strategic off-campus development can play a significant role in revitalizing downtown centers. Come learn how large urban academic campuses can redefine their relationship to the city by partnering in the implementation of strategic urban planning initiatives, blurring their campus boundaries, and aligning campus development with community need.

Abstract: This presentation will demonstrate how an innovative new typology for student small-group living has transformed and expanded group living options, locating student housing in surprising, incongruous campus spaces. Lawrence University successfully prototyped new group housing typologies in under-utilized residential spaces, supporting its goal to be fully residential without adding campus buildings. You will learn how the expanded project team, tasked with thinking outside the box, invented a new housing typology uniquely connected to the existing campus culture and the site.

Abstract: Harvard University’s Smith Campus Center has repurposed an entire city block, providing innovative new spaces for collaboration and a welcoming “front door” to the university. The campus center has been transformative for Harvard, revitalizing a prominent site at the campus's crossroads and providing the wider community of 44,000 people with new central gathering and events spaces. Come learn how we successfully navigated stakeholder outreach and generated a design solution within the existing building.

Abstract: Both the City of Bridgeport and the University of Bridgeport were experiencing a renaissance before Superstorm Sandy struck in 2012. Now, they are working together to catalyze greater growth through a commitment to environmental resilience. The city and the university have partnered on a new project that achieves different, but compatible goals. This approach has created access to additional (and unusual) project funding and financing. In this session we will outline strategies for identifying multi-benefit projects, including finding potential partners and alternative avenues for project implementation.

Abstract: New dorm construction takes time and funding that often competes with the ongoing need to upgrade existing dorms. Despite limited resources, campus planning and capital programs teams are successfully doing both. Tufts University's first housing program since the 1970s is transforming the undergraduate residential experience two-fold: by rapidly increasing the on-campus bed supply in existing facilities and by renewing residential buildings. Come learn how a 2016 housing planning study that started with an inventory analysis quickly evolved into an ongoing program to add 100+ beds per year beginning in 2017.

Abstract: The StudentLink Center, New York University's consolidated services model, has transformed student services delivery. Our highly efficient student-centered model focuses on simplifying services by removing barriers to students. We will show how to maintain a friendly warm-touch environment that leverages technology to streamline business processes, collect data, and utilize obtained data to cross train your team and improve productivity. You will walk away from this session with an understanding of how our service model works and how data collection can serve to enhance cross-training efforts and increase productivity.

Abstract: Over their 150-year history, land-grant universities have played a tremendous and vital role in the development of the United States and the education of its people. Most of these institutions were established as the result of the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862. How has this mission, drafted in a much different time, held up over the years? As we move toward the third decade of the twenty-first century, many universities are evolving to better embrace changing student demographics; build industry partnerships; and reframe campus legacies to ensure that the land-grant mission still supports the needs of our times.

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.