Learning Resources

Abstract: As headlines lament mushrooming student debt and a “higher education bubble,” Google—a choice employer and renowned innovator—says college degrees aren’t a prerequisite for the talent it seeks. So why should young people invest in degrees? Universities must change to survive, and there is an interesting model that offers ideas for a new way of learning: the academic incubator.

Abstract: A reprint of the 1976 article with a new 2015 introduction by the author.

Original abstract: Drawing on his experience as Provost for Planning at West Virginia University, Raymond M. Haas deals in the following article with the importance of a proper charge to the Planning Office as a means of achieving integrated planning. He further proposes that the role of the Planning Office should be clearly coordinative in the nature--to the point where its only responsibility for actual planning should be in planning the planning process. Finally, he argues that "... integrated planning can be achieved only when planning is a regularly scheduled activity which occurs frequently, and which produces results that manifest themselves in the allocation, reallocation, and effective use of resources within the institution." The author's remarks have been adapted from his presentation at the Society's 11th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

Abstract: The focus on information exchange and collaboration is defining a sea change in the evolution of the campus into a technology-rich virtual learning environment. The rapid advances of technology in the last decade, the rise of cohort-oriented inquiry-based pedagogies, and the future of virtual learning are redefining the planning issues for learning space. Near-term and future technologies offer the potential for education to become a continuous, interconnected, and integrated process that allows students to succeed in a perpetually changing world. The themes of upcoming SCUP conference events make it clear that the society is again focusing on advances in collaboration and educational processes that will have an immediate impact on our members who are planning for the inevitable ongoing learning space evolution.

Abstract: Public higher education in the United States has become more privatized over the last half-century. One way it has adapted to this privatized environment is through the use of a new funding model, the public-private venture (PPV). PPVs are increasing rapidly in Georgia’s higher education system, and yet little is known about the implications of their use. This issue is significant because billions of dollars are invested in Georgia alone. Leaders must be able to utilize privatized financial tools and understand the best conditions for their use.
With the goal of contributing to the literature about how PPVs are used, there were four research questions that guided this study: (1) how has the PPV model been used in an urban public university? (2) what are the internal and external forces that cause a public university to use the PPV model? (3) what is gained and lost by using this model? and (4) what strengths and challenges have resulted from the implementation of PPVs? A qualitative case study was conducted on the Georgia Institute of Technology and specifically three of its housing facilities, two that are PPVs and one that is not.
Six themes regarding the breadth and extent of PPV use at this institution were identified: (1) determination of control, responsibility, oversight, and autonomy; (2) the need to balance risk and debt; (3) how closely to follow the market model; (4) the effects of decreased state support; (5) the connection between strategic planning and the use of PPVs; and (6) the creation of new, even more privatized, financial models.
The seventh and most significant finding was the identification of three distinct pressures present in the PPV model—control, responsibility, and oversight—or a “triangle of pressure.” This newly introduced concept emphasizes the three pressures that must be carefully balanced when engaging in partnerships that involve both public and private entities in public higher education.
The trend of privatization in the academy is here for the foreseeable future, and leaders should carefully consider the implications for their institutions, their state systems, and their students and plan accordingly.

Abstract: More comprehensive than most master planning processes, Vision Integrated Planning (VIP) results in the broad and detailed development of a campus master plan framed by the realities of the institution’s internal and external environment. Beginning with and embracing the college’s vision, VIP sets out to understand the forces and issues that affect a college’s program offerings and the facilities used to serve the learning experiences of those programs. It then uses that understanding to develop a well-supported, integrated, and informed campus master plan. This article lays out the VIP process, citing examples where VIP has been employed and demonstrating the logic that frames the planning effort.