Institutions of higher education are putting more emphasis than ever before on the physical plant that serves their students, faculty, and administrators. Instead of some small classrooms with moveable seats and some large auditoriums with fixed seats, wh
Take a look at three different systems deployed on different campuses: GateWay Community College in Phoenix uses a fire alarm system with a voice public address system as well as a network-based mass notification system; Gettysburg College in Gettysburg,
Let's face it, over the last few years everyone's budget has been optimized and right-sized till the eagle screams. But if a school doesn't stay on the cutting edge of technology it will lose its competitive edge. How does an IT department
Iowa State University received record amounts of rainfall last year with catastrophic results. While the damage was significant, reconstruction is complete and mitigation has begun. College Planning and Management checks in to see what happened and how th
While talking with several colleagues over the last few months about roles and responsibilities during emergencies, it was evident that some campuses struggle to clearly define senior management roles during large-scale events.
Duke University is no stranger to commissioning sustainable structures. With 290 buildings on more than 8,000 acres, the Durham, NC-based University boasts 25 U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifi
For the last several weeks, the focus of work and concern in Washington, D. C., has been the passage of the fiscal year 2011 federal budget and the threat of a Federal government shutdown. With their backs against the wall, congressional leadership and Pr
Suffolk University is a recognized leader in the campus sustainability movement, being named a City of Boston Green Business Award recipient in 2008, Massachusetts Wastewise Partner of the Year for 2009 from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental P
Messiah College's environmental sustainability efforts affect nearly all aspects of daily life at the College. Day to day, most students and employees probably don't think twice about all the recycling bins or that the vegetables in their salad
Greening the IT department makes good business sense. The IT department may be just the place to find savings simply because it has probably been overlooked as other departments have been scrutinized.
Wofford College earns LEED Platinum for an historic mill building's adapted reuse for environmental studies field station. Achieving accurate historic preservation can be challenging enough, but achieving LEED certification makes this building an equ
Iowa State University recently became one of the nearly 200 U.S. colleges and universities offering students reusable take-out containers, which hold down take-out costs for campus food service operations and for take-out customers, while providing a sust
Conventional laboratory buildings consume up to ten times the energy of typical buildings due to their specialized HVAC requirements, and older lab buildings were particularly energy inefficient. How does a university upgrade these laboratories to current
Georgetown University's Solid Waste and Recycling manager has several important goals: to bring sustainability leadership to the management of waste and recycling, to do so in a highly efficient and cost-effective way, and keep to the historic campus look
Each year the U.S. produces more than 4.5M tons of solid waste, much of which consists of recyclable or reusable materials. By reducing waste and creating more sustainable practices, colleges and universities could save thousands each year.
From meetings and discussions with community college leaders nationwide these themes of opportunity and challenge are consistent: changing perception, providing accessibility, raising the bar, making education affordable, designing spaces so that communit
Clearly, education is changing on many levels the addition of technology, the advent of online education, the accessibility and ubiquity of information, the comfort level of students and professors in using technology, the delivery of education, th
While multitasking/multipurpose spaces have always been a part of K12 facilities, they are becoming more and more prevalent in higher education settings. Flexible audio/visual systems allow large rooms to successfully host a variety of events from s
Security technology and IT have converged, but there are three steps to the process: personal relationships between the security director and the IT director, an IT director to guide the installation of security technology on a campus network, and the IT
The right building system choice can save a college or university a significant amount of time and money. The wrong system can suck up funds, energy, and man-hours. Here, we take a look at some of the current trends in building systems.
Part of the all-hazards planning process involves a recognition of the hazards that must be addressed for your organization's geographic location. No community is immune to these types of threats. Though the risk to most specific communities from rad
Intentionally Christian, purposefully urban, and purposefully multicultural, North Park University in Chicago anticipates more enrollment growth in the future. While a diverse, urban campus have helped the University, a restructuring of tuition and financ
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
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.
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
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.
In the world of great unknowns one thing is certain; emergencies, natural or man-made, happen. Along with them comes a rapid fire series of questions: Is it best to evacuate or shelter-in-place? How is traffic managed while quickly getting students and st
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
Time was, science laboratories had few windows and little natural light. The benches were built into the structure. Uncomfortable stools provided seating. Offices were on other floors or even in other buildings. But scientists have changed.
Campus signage programs have come a long way from the simple signs used in years past to identify individual buildings or areas within a campus. Developing the most efficient and cost-effective program, especially when multiple campuses are involved, requ
The world of higher education keeps changing and College Planning & Management is there to take note. What will 2011 bring to the campus? Our panel of experts looks into their crystal ball for answers.
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
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
U.S. colleges are working with countries that want access to the unique qualities of higher education for their citizens. Accordingly, this global drive toward more competitive and comprehensive higher education systems is attracting significant attention
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
A mere decade ago, I did not comprehend the massive changes in many other parts of the world. I certainly did not envision the massive changes in our nation and its institutions of higher learning these changes in other lands would bring. Like many folks,
Changing the behavior of students to avoid infestation by bedbugs may be a losing battle. The best course of action seems to be identifying a small infestation early and eradicating it before it becomes extreme. So, many college and university administrat
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 is on the move as students, faculty, and staff come to campus with their iPads, iPhones, Droid Xs, BlackBerry Torches, and more. This means greater opportunities for education, communication, and good will. It also means additional chall
LCD technology has become an attractive medium for many public places, such as college common areas, to engage an audience in places of waiting or purchasing. The popularity of LCD technology in these applications has grown in part due to the capability t