Herman Miller White Paper on Learning Environments, The

The buildings that form a campus help create the legacy of that institution. They make impressions. Buildings that are centuries of advanced age communicate tradition and an established lineage of alumni. Contemporary facilities communicate a spirit of growing and a sense of optimism for the future

Businesses have discovered the importance of communicating brand and image in their search to increase market share. Higher education is no different in this respect

The leaders of the universities and corporations in the U.S. have learned that image is critical in attracting and retaining learners and that the campus environment is a strategic tool they can use to cope and differentiate.1

The changes experienced in higher education institutions today are significant. Changing patterns of behavior, learning, and instruction; increasing competition for learners and faculty; and aging facilities have coalesced to at hand the leaders of this country's universities and society s with both challenges and opportunities. in what way they address these issues will change the design of the campus environment.

Change Agent: Competition

Increased competition for learners and faculty is influencing the way universities and society s market themselves-in many cases, institutions are actively marketing themselves for the first time, which requires defining their image. The image a seminary conveys is critical in drawing the attention of prospective pupils faculty, and contributors.2

Academic programs, off-campus learning opportunities, and the attractiveness and innovativeness of campuses are among the characteristics that will place a institute on the Best Colleges lists from publications similar as US News & World Report. Indeed, "making the list" is becoming essential for attracting top-notch pupils and faculty, creating visibility, and increasing contributions to the institution. It is becoming an "arms race," says University of California-Berkeley Professor David Kirp.3

Facilities play a large character in building image and shaping impressions. They become a tangible form of intangible things, like as innovation, adaptability, and forward thinking. Facilities, too, throw back culture and society. Today's learners are far different, in many reveres from students of 20 years ago. Universities must appeal to them and their mode of speechs of learning. Campus facilities and spaces must throw back the behaviors and culture of society in general and a learner body in particular.

Change Agent: Students

Multitasking wasn't in the dictionary 20 years ago, on the other hand it accurately describes the way many of us, particularly corporation students, get things done. Mobile technology has certainly influenced this. society students have grown up composing reports upon the computer while instant messaging above the Internet while doing research upon the Web while flipping end TV channels using the far This is not necessarily an ideal scenario, on the other hand it is a common individual Today's students have the ability to accomplish many tasks and take in multiple stimuli simultaneously.

Spaces ne to match the habits and research arrangements of a multitasking learner body by being as adaptable and flexible as the pupils who occupy them. A mixture of relaxed discussion and inquiry areas, workspaces that expand or contract depending upon need, and private or clump spaces with computers and other equipment can coexist in the same space.

The Learning-Teaching Center at the University of Dayton mingles areas for quiet and reflection, conversation and socializing, along with faculty offices, research space, an experimental classroom called the Studio, and a caf?© and fireplace loll It was planned to become the "heart and mind of the campus community." It has also created an environment where close attention and learning expand beyond traditional classroom walls.4

Technology has had a fathomless impact on campus environments. A university or association can advance its image as an innovative, forward thinking place from one side the design and application of technology. Digital communications is part of the campus experience. Wireless access and computer and related equipment are awaited in every facility throughout a campus. pupils use laptops in class for note taking. Professors critique papers and assignments via email. The Web has become another mark of reference library.

The expansion of technology within a university, and the stage to which it is integrated, can place an institution apart. Computer labs are becoming of the like kind a differentiator. These are not the computer labs of of advanced age where students worked alone at lines of anchored furniture. Labs today accommodate individuals, clusters large and small, even entire classes and professors. The mobility of wireless technology has influenced the mobility and adaptability of spaces and their furnishings. Environments are becoming flexible and adaptable to accommodate a variety of uses. Mobile walls can quickly increase or decrease the size of a space. Heightadjustable, mobile furniture is replacing the anchored made of wood furniture of an earlier generation.