Increasing numbers of colleges and universities, however, are adopting more of a change-agent, upstart mentality. Schools such as the University of Rochester, Duke University, and Case Western Reserve University are prime examples of institutions that are finding ways to circumvent the go-slow approach that long has characterized American higher education. The processes and technologies that these institutions develop find their ways into the marketplace as business ventures. And the creation of these technologies leads universities to beef up their own hiring.
Every decision we make has an impact on learning. We can guarantee that our students will have safe, secure, and nurturing places in which to learn by making informed decisions based on more than lowest cost. If you don’t have funding to do it all … add to the plus column by improving your educational environments one piece at a time.
As large university systems face tightening budgets, they are restructuring their purchasing operations by consolidating them and leveraging their spending to lower costs. While some university systems such as Indiana University have moved to a complete centralization of purchasing, others have developed other models that allow individual campuses some autonomy over spending decisions.
Educators have been less successful in providing access for American students. Access creates the pathway that makes choice possible. Ideally, education should be a series of seamless transitions between various levels and complexities of learning. What has happened in America, however, is that access has become a fundamental stumbling block for students seeking to learn and to advance themselves.
Old dogs are learning new tricks as adult students return to colleges to enhance their careers or springboard into new ones. However, to attract these dedicated, engaged scholars, there's one question you should definitely not ask.
Following the enormous destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina and other disasters over the past decade, institutions have placed higher emphasis on disaster recovery and business continuity planning, testing, and execution. Business continuity plans are built on a foundation of processes, people, information, technology — and perhaps most importantly, assumptions. Whatever the level of careful planning now in place, we must continue to reassess all of these elements. And whatever was in place before November 2012, Superstorm Sandy forces a careful, objective, and immediate reconsideration.
As the second term of Barack Obama’s Presidency begins and the 113th Congress convenes, most Americans wonder whether the two parties and the two branches of government can work together to find common ground and address the numerous critical, salient and important issues facing the nation.
With the importance of higher education on the rise and enrollment continuing to climb, we will continue to need new and upgraded spaces. We will also need to set aside dollars to maintain the new facilities that we build, otherwise our investments will be squandered. Then there are all of those “other” buildings… the ones originally built in the 1920s, added on to in the ’50s, ’70s, ’90s, and so on. The truth is that a majority of our educational facilities in this country are approaching the half-century mark and are in major need of maintenance and repair!
There are many options and factors to consider when selecting the right flooring for dance and performance spaces. For example, what material is best for the types of dance your program teaches, or could teach in order to grow the program in the future? Also, is your structural subfloor sealed, and above, at, or below grade? That matters because an unsealed, below-grade slab can swell or warp your dance floor by drawing up moisture from the ground.
Can security people on an open college campus ensure that a visitor — someone from outside the campus community — doesn’t walk onto campus and begin stealing laptops or, worse, start shooting people? Of course they can’t. Then again, it probably is possible to discourage crime at all levels by presenting a friendly and welcoming yet security-conscious face to visitors.
As each year passes and a fresh year begins, I like to think through some of the lessons I learned (or re-learned) as a personal and professional growth exercise. I think the theme for 2012 was that those lessons that stick with you are the most painful lessons to learn.
Why the AV industry and not one of the other building systems trades, such as HVAC or electrical integrators? For one reason, AV professionals are widely recognized as early adopters of new technologies. In recent years, there has been a considerable emphasis on ease-of-use and ease-of-operation. In response, AV programmers, consultants, and integrators have developed unique skills for creating intuitive, user-friendly tools and control interfaces. What users and building managers often do not see is that behind the scenes, to create those seamless interfaces, AV professionals must often corral complex systems that don’t normally communicate with one another — and that’s the crux of the challenge when it comes to integrating disparate building systems.
Armstrong Atlantic State University's lab facility gets high marks for a VAV remedy, which provided much-needed quiet and significant energy savings.
Being energy efficient has a lot going for it. Students and faculty appreciate the comfortable environments. Staff members enjoy maintaining and servicing an intelligently controlled building. And everyone can feel good about contributing to a healthy, green future. But at what cost? There is plenty of whizz-bang technology that looks great… until you crunch the numbers. Is a 20-year return on investment too long to wait? Or is the alternative too expensive?
It should be clear by now that there is absolutely nothing new about MOOCs. So why the concern now that MOOCs may pose a special risk of encouraging patent infringement litigation? The answer, of course, lies in the numbers. The MOOC phenomenon has resulted in hundreds of thousands of individuals signing on to take part in this "new" education sensation. It is not at all far-fetched to expect that a single MOOC may register well over a million persons at a time. And in patent litigation, these numbers can mean money, big money.
No one knows what tomorrow may bring, but the experts
consulted by College Planning & Management offer up a few educated guesses. We asked experts to spot trends and get a jumpstart
on the issues higher education will face in 2013.
How do you build your team within a culture that the existing senior administrative staff has embraced and protected, and significantly, that may well have defined the senior team more than the team has defined the culture? What happens in those first months when you are the outsider on your own team?
College Planning & Management asked four schools in New Jersey to describe their preparations and their experiences battling Hurricane Sandy at the end of October.
States need more college graduates for in-state employers, and public colleges and universities need more public funding. Evaluating these two problems side by side has led governors and state education officials to implement a 30-year-old idea called per
Sustainable procurement work has never been more exciting. New data, science, and processes are coming together with years of on-the-ground experience to create a new paradigm. A higher education pilot project is laying the groundwork for a sustainable pr
Purchasing printers and copiers can be a really daunting task. Buyers can find the entire process in obtaining the peripherals to be a challenge. Plus, how does a university, which is already working with limited funds, acquire the print technology it nee
It is easy for college faculty to glide into a comfort level posture where "change" becomes a bad word. Therefore, it becomes incumbent upon the dean to continuously challenge faculty to become actively involved in reviewing and revising existin
College residence halls, classrooms, offices, and other similar areas are especially vulnerable to bed bug infestations due to the pest's hitchhiking nature. Whether brought to campus by a student returning from a trip or a staff member who may have
Can handy campus cards get any better? Indeed, they can. They're being upgraded from smart cards to contactless smart cards, where they can be "read" when held near an electronic reader. "Bye-bye" magnetic stripes, "hello
Signage systems on college and university campuses communicate explicitly, implicitly and importantly. Devising such systems can also be opportunities to fortify relationships on and around campuses.
From a planning and management perspective few things are worse than a building that consumes way more energy than expected. Energy modeling programs can take some of the mystery out of your building stock's performance and help you meet LEED standar
When we talk to our students about sustainable cooking, it really encompasses a wide range of ideas, including food production, transportation, energy/water consumption, and waste disposal. Anything we can do in culinary schools to address one or more of
Even with budget considerations, snow and ice management on your campus must be examined with the overall goal in mind; maintaining a safe environment for pedestrians and vehicles, allowing people to go about their daily lives, and limiting risk. Before g
As state funding for public postsecondary education has declined, tuition has risen, and increasing numbers of students can only attend college by taking out enormous loans. Those who cannot qualify for loans cannot afford college. By 2020, says the Labor
Colleges and universities can make a positive difference by having detailed plans and policies in place, working with members of the campus and surrounding communities, and identifying potential flare-ups. All can work hand-in-hand with those one-on-one i
"Crises can come and go, whether that means hurricanes, fires, or hostile intruders," says Greg Krikorian, Lebanon Valley's vice president for student affairs and dean of students. "At the end of the day, whatever the issue, we need to
Student centers function as the campus heart with lively places for dining, lounging, meeting, and playing games. They're often described as the "third place" in a student's everyday life (other than work and home). While these spaces
The ability of any staff member in a campus facility to initiate the lockdown process during the first critical 30 seconds of an event no matter which employee becomes aware of the threat, where he or she is on campus, or what the nature of the threat req
Providing a high-quality educational experience for a diverse group of students, meeting academic goals, and staying within budget means that administrators, campus planners, and architects need to optimize new construction projects and maximize existing
We often define the problem of school violence too narrowly. The focus is usually on interpersonal violence between students or by students toward their teachers. When in reality, any instance of crime or violence at a school not only affects the individu
The Great Recession is being blamed for increasing deferred maintenance. But is it the only cause of this challenge? What do administrators need to do to turn the situation around? What is going to happen if they don't? Here, E. Lander Medlin, execut
What happens when everyone tries to log on to that coverage at the same time? Perhaps the most famous example occurred to the late Steve Jobs during an important product launch. About 40 minutes into the Apple CEO's keynote speech where he was introd
How can student center floors stand up to the resulting wear and tear, and with flooring that's environmentally sustainable, affordable, and easy on the eye? What goes into the process of choosing flooring systems in such crucial places?
If women and minorities are to make significant inroads with regard to leading our colleges and universities, the most significant change we can make will be in the composition of the governing boards of our institutions. The diversification we have witne