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Community-Based Facility Planning

If your board room, auditorium, gymnasium or other space has ever been the scene of public protest over an educational facility construction project, or if you have worked tirelessly to pass a referendum only to have it voted down, you can count yourself

Investing for the Future: FY 2012 Elementary and Secondary Education Budget Request

Given the nation's current budget deficit, President Obama released on February 14, 2011 his proposed budget for fiscal year 2012. For some sectors, the comment has been that this is no Valentine! But for the education sector, it indicated an overall

Educational Specifications

What does it take to create school facilities now, that can handle challenges in the 21st century? What will students and staff be doing in 2030 that is different from today, and how will the community be involved? How do you create facilities that will a

Going To School With NIMS

NIMS is a flexible, plain English organizational framework designed to provide a common standard for emergency management. It is flexible in that the components of NIMS can aid in the development of plans, processes, procedures, agreements and roles for m

Déjà Vu

As I sit watching the news I hear about international competition, our students falling behind, the need to upgrade our math and science programs, school consolidations and workforce development. Call it déjà vu (or maybe old age), but I rem

Working With ResLife and Other Auxiliaries

Change is needed in the way O&M work is performed at campus auxiliary functions. Having had the opportunity to visit several dozen campuses in recent years, I have seen various models of how O&M needs are satisfied on assets assigned to auxiliary

Last but Not Least

To make sure that your dynamic facility program is reflected through dynamic furniture, it's important to have user-driven selections. Involving your architect can add value this process through their understanding of the facility design and construc

New Year, New Program?

The new year has started, and for most of us that means our school district has completed about half of the academic year. Now, the task turns to looking forward to projects that will be designed and implemented during the summer recess. This is also a go

Recycling History

Colleges and universities nationwide are scrambling for building space and for capital dollars. As a result, two significant trends are converging to ease the strain: One is conversion of use — taking advantage of existing structures for unintended o

Investing in Our Students, Teachers, and Institutions: The Proposed FY 2012 Postsecondary Education Budget

Under very tight budget constraints, President Obama released on February 14, 2011 his proposed budget for fiscal year 2012. The programs within the U.S Department of Education fared well, including some new investments for postsecondary education.

Student-Centered Learning

Active Learning Classrooms at the University of Minnesota create an interactive learning experience for students in a variety of courses. Varying in size from 27 to 126 seats and outfitted with large round tables, each of which seats nine students, ALCs a

Upgrades Put Technology in the Hands of Students

When it comes to technology in school districts across the country, not all things are equal. This lack of equality is frustrating to administrators and teachers who embrace the use of technology in the classroom — all they can do is wait for upgrade

Safe Learning and Play

Students are exposed to unsafe situations because of existing hazardous conditions and lack of maintained equipment and facilities. Despite school-conducted safety inspections, many outdoor environments contain playground equipment and open space that is

Teacher Residency Programs May Have Benefits for Higher Ed and K-12

The University of Denver's teacher residency program in conjunction with Denver Public Schools is part of a national trend of preparing teachers through observing, practicing, and learning about education every day. Graduate students in the Denver Te

Take A Better Look

College and university security directors are taking up four relatively new video technologies to enhance security: Internet Protocol (IP) cameras, intelligent video technology, megapixel cameras, and integrated door alarm and card access control systems

Review Course on Video Surveillance

The use of video surveillance cameras in K-12 school has made great strides since the Columbine massacre. Today's systems use computer networks to install more cameras and to monitor them from anywhere. They use megapixel cameras to record more detai

The Things I've Learned 2010

As each year closes out, I take some time to reflect on the events of the year and work to find areas where I picked up on something new, learned a new or different way of doing something, or just plain "got schooled," and will apply those lesso

Mobile Technology for the Classroom

There's a new K-12 education tool in town. This tool fits in the palm of students' hands, so it's highly mobile. It easily slips into students' blue jeans pockets, so it isn't obvious pickings for would-be thieves. The classroom u

Looking Forward

If you could look into a crystal ball to see what may come to pass in regard to education, this year's vision, more than any in the recent history, would probably be the most clouded, considering the change in government, the slow recovery of the eco

Outlook for Education in 2011

In 2011, we are likely to see a loss of non-essential services and aggressive streamlining of others; a greater emphasis on group purchasing and outsourcing; school closures and consolidation; increases in tuition and fees; a reduction in the number of cr

Shining Through

Most designers engaged in daylighting design understand how daylighting saves energy and influences architecture, but many secondary issues related to daylighting are less understood — factors that can have a significant impact on performance of both

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