Addresses four questions regarding implementation of a long-term capital plan to manage a college's facilities portfolio: When should the projects be implemented? How should the capital improvements be implemented? What will it actually cost in terms of project costs as well as operating costs? Who will implement the plan? (EV)

A major research university in a metropolitan location reexamines its sense of campus community and discovers that it should not approach living and learning as separate activities; the institution purposely used extensive housing construction and renovation to achieve the institution's educational mission and encourage a greater sense of…

Five principal products of an integrated academic, fiscal, and facility planning process are discussed: an academic plan, a physical development plan, institutional priorities, a capital budget, and an operating budget. Criteria for successful implementation of a planning process that integrates these five plans are offered. (Author/MLW)

This lesson plan introduces high school students to pueblo architecture. Students will learn about pueblo architecture and its cultural tradition; discuss architectural characteristics and aesthetics in San Geronimo de Taos; examine the pueblo as a living environment; explore adobe pueblo structure in clay; and study Hopi, Zuni, and Pueblo…

Explores the major problems with many of the new state-of-the-art buildings designed to house child care programs and concludes that the buildings are too small. (BB)

This article argues that the physical plant of most colleges and universities does not teach students to value the natural environment, despite its costly maintenance. A more ecological approach that respects nature, reflects natural aesthetic standards, presents the outdoors as a classroom in its own right, and for which the whole campus…

Discussion of changes in school building design focuses on a conference held at Prairie School (Racine, Wisconsin) that included architects and educators who discussed what is happening in schools and in what directions school design should be moving. New environments needed for new learning styles are described. (LRW)

Four programs are described: (1) visits of New Jersey vocational students to local construction sites; (2) customized training delivered by Indiana Vo-Tech College to the manufacturer of Louisville sluggers; (3) Seminole Community College labs providing entry-level career preparation and refresher training in marine mechanics; and (4) high tech…

A discussion of the place of religion in higher education begins with the Vanderbilt University (Tennessee) chapel's history of controversy and looks at the role religious philosophy can play in intellectual and social evolution, drawing on a broad range of world literature. (MSE)

Provides a checklist for administrators to use while looking for signs of wasted energy and examining lighting, building construction, heating and ventilation systems, and plumbing and refrigeration. After completing the checklist for a single building or every school in the district, administrators should prioritize physical changes needed for…

The Kresge Foundation is one of the few national foundations that give money only for construction and renovation at nonprofit organizations, a boon for colleges and universities with severe deferred maintenance problems. Recently, the foundation added a program to upgrade science equipment. Participating colleges must also raise funds. (MSE)

Three-fourths of American schools are in substandard condition. Health effects associated with indoor air/environmental quality are a major concern. Sick building syndrome, which causes illness in occupants, generally results from particulates, volatile organic compounds, biologicals, or radio-nucleotides. The article recommends how to deal with…

Describes how learning environments can be more educationally and optimally useful if the architecture of the built, natural, and cultural environments are used as teaching tools. Discusses how structures and the surrounding landscape can be used to teach physics, geometry, and other disciplines, enabling students to learn how to evaluate the…

Describes how to select the right computerized maintenance-management system for school buildings through careful analysis of building needs and budgetary constraints. Discusses deciding on the use of implementation services following a maintenance system evaluation and selection process. Lists various companies involved in maintenance, energy,…

Presents data from the American School & University's annual Maintenance and Operations (M&O) Cost Study for the 1997-98 school year. Data include trends in building-operations-staff salaries and M&O costs expressed in dollars per student and per square foot. Results indicate an underfunding of M&O that may not provide students…