The Academic Mission: A university planning perspective
Supporting rather than supplanting the academic mission
by Robert S. Davis, AIA
Institutions of higher education across the country are competing with one another in upgrading residence halls, building new student life facilities, enhancing athletic structures, and creating new high tech learning environments, all in an effort to attract the highest caliber students and faculty members to their campuses. At the same time, most campuses are facing increasing challenges from the high costs of deferred maintenance.
Such intense building programs and the cost of maintaining facilities in the future add to the ever increasing need to raise tuition, a process that will negatively impact the very students your are trying to attract. If you face this combination of challenges, so that your facilities are driving your educational program instead of the reverse, you need to talk to us.
We firmly believe that your campus facilities should support, not supplant the academic mission.
Additional resources on trends in higher education development:
- Download research from Davis Wince on six critical challenges facing higher education
- Educasuse
- Student Housing Planet