Over the past few decades, colleges and universities have engaged in a kind of facilities arms race to build new, state-of-the-art dormitories, dining halls, classrooms, athletic complexes, and fine arts centers. Higher ed institutions face enormous competitive pressures to build buildings that rival what's on their peers' campuses. For many, cutting-edge means new.
Articles: Facilities
11/1/2010
"We're the new U." The tag-line is fitting for The University of North Texas at Dallas, which, in September became its own independent four-year university after a decade of being considered a branch campus of UNT in Denton. The just-opened second building on its campus creates a physical presence to complement the separate identity UNT Dallas officials have been building for themselves.
10/1/2010
So, what do the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, the State University of New York at Binghamton and Berkshire Community College have in common? If you are searching for an answer, just consider the role higher learning has played in the transformation of America's river mill cities into contemporary collegetowns.
10/1/2010
Higher Education Hiring
Colleges and universities are where the jobs are.
Amid all the gloomy head-lines about furloughs, layoffs, hiring freezes, and early retirement, one employment trend report offers a glimmer of hope.
10/1/2010
More than 300 students from five Kirkwood Community College (Iowa) programs study in state-of-the-art kitchens and classrooms, working alongside a 70-person professional staff.
10/1/2010
For many campus building projects, the period following schematic design is critical to the project's future. With the proposed design illustrating the building's significant forms, program, functional relationships and scale, the project enters the fundraising phase.
10/1/2010
Four feet of snow in a week might be awesome if you run a ski resort, but it causes havoc if you run a college or university campus. That is just the quandary campus leaders in the mid-Atlantic were dealing with in December 2009.
"We couldn't open campus," says Joy Hughes, CIO and vice president for information technology at George Mason University (Va.). "You couldn't drive around."
10/1/2010
Start with an understanding of campus culture, stir in a strong sense of community, blend in a brand new dining facility and dining program, season with an educational component, and simmer for a sensory delight that will satisfy the hardiest appetite.
10/1/2010
When developing and refining a business continuity plan, "you have to look beyond voice and data," urges Bryan Mehaffey, vice president of technology at Ave Maria University (Fla.). "You have to think about facilities and life safety." Campus buildings and the equipment they contain are worth millions of dollars and shouldn't be forgotten once students, faculty, and staff are safe.
9/1/2010
A recently enacted state law requires all institutions in the California State University and University of California systems -- plus community colleges that maintain student housing facilities -- to provide students raised in foster care with priority campus housing year-round. Luckily for these schools, they've gotten a head start on providing housing and other support services for this group.
9/1/2010
What was originally supposed to be a renovation of the University Center at The University of Memphis (Tenn.) became a much bigger project.
7/1/2010
Education students at The College of William & Mary (Va.) have a new building just for them?seven years in the making and the first time in 20 years that all of the school's people and programs will be housed together.
6/1/2010
Richard Cook spends much of his time listening to college and university presidents ask questions about sustainability. Can we afford this? What if my trustees balk? Is global climate change exaggerated? Is carbon neutrality even possible? Cook responds with patience and knowledge about the impact of harmful greenhouse gases, about clean energy, and about why it makes fiscal sense to go green. "I liken it to the moonshot," says the former president of Allegheny College (Pa.).
6/1/2010
When budgets are limited and staff time is tight,effectively tracking and reporting on sustainability projects can be challenging. As of late April, about 135 institutions had begun using the new Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System (STARS) to streamline sustainability work, increase coordination, keep information in order, and allow leaders to assess progress.
6/1/2010
Mark Edlen, a Portland developer and businessman with Gerding Edlen, sees the commitment to sustainability as both a political movement and a business strategy, as noted in an April 14, 2010 article in The Oregonian. In explaining his new business approach, Edlen said, "The big thing for my generation was Vietnam and civil rights. For the young people of today, it's their environmental footprint." He is convinced the green economy is one of the country's primary economic engines.
