To best support the people working, learning, and connecting in academic spaces, let’s first understand what they need from the built environment. In our work with clients spanning industries around the globe, we’ve been helping organizations design around three specific ways of making an impact: supporting wellbeing, fostering connection, and navigating change.

We call this approach Design with Impact, and in the higher education context, it can help colleges and universities respond to the needs of those on campus and navigate three major shifts affecting the academic landscape:

• From continuous expansion to optimized space

• From standard learning spaces to career catalysts

• From traditional teaching to active learning

From continuous expansion to optimized space

Declines in enrollment and underutilized space both affect how campus space is used.* 

Like any organization, academic institutions are evaluating their real estate portfolios and asking how they can make the most of the spaces they have without adding more. Beyond real estate cost savings, this presents opportunities for colleges and universities to refocus existing spaces around pressing developments facing higher education.

A resurgence in international student enrollment since 2020 coupled with an increase in students reporting feelings of loneliness have campuses scrambling to facilitate connection and address student wellbeing. Potential solutions include spaces such as:

• Communal cafes and multicultural centers that promote casual connection and foster a sense of belonging.

• Student lounges equipped with open and enclosed seating areas to offer moments of respite or opportunities for connection.

• Wellness rooms fitted with acoustic management features and furniture that promotes privacy.

From standard learning spaces to career catalysts

The cost of tuition has tripled since 1976, and students know that they’re paying a rapidly rising premium for the college experience. One survey revealed that 39% of students have never visited their school’s career services office. Yet those with career-focused experiences at their school feel more confident in their preparation for the workforce.**

To emphasize the value of a college degree, academic institutions must prepare graduates for the future. They can start by providing settings that support career preparation on campus and connections between students and those helping them advance their goals.

These include settings such as:

• Campus plazas that offer ample furniture configurations in shared spaces for students, faculty, and processional organizations to gather, build relationships, and discuss the future for soon-to-be graduates.

• Multi-purpose student work areas that double as casual meeting places with faculty, who are continually distributed across campuses to counsel students with particular majors and career paths.***

• Classrooms that support transitions from learning to test-taking with acoustic management features and furnishings offering semi-private environments that lessen visual distractions.

From traditional teaching to active learning

The future of higher education hinges on institutions adopting active learning methods. Such methods help students work through problems in teams within spaces that enable instructors to guide activities and facilitate discussions.

Compared to traditional lecture classes, active learning improves students’ academic performance and engagement. The built environment can help colleges and universities adopt this approach through settings that help students navigate transitions between work modes and preferences.

These settings include:

• Team neighborhoods that offer a variety of work points for groups to intuitively shift between lectures, student-led learning, collaboration, and individual work.

• Classrooms equipped with ergonomic furnishings and adjustable work tools that allow students to modify to their liking.

A way forward for design on campus

Though the challenges within these three shifts vary by campus, they all offer opportunities for academic institutions to refocus their existing spaces on the things that matter most for the people who use them.

Our Design with Impact approach provides a pathway for better aligning campus environments with student needs. By optimizing space and creating career-centered learning environments powered by active learning modalities, colleges and universities can attract, retain, and empower students and faculty for success in an ever-changing world.

3-point recap

1. Fluctuations in enrollment and space utilization pose opportunities for colleges and universities to optimize campuses for connection and student wellbeing.

2. Colleges and universities can help foster career-readiness by creating spaces where students, faculty, and professional organizations can connect.

3. The shift from traditional to active learning methods highlights the need for adaptable classrooms that support team-based and individual learning.

Sources

* “The Connected Campus Building Long-Term Value and Agility by Connecting Offerings, Organizations and Operations,” Knoll, Brightspot, 2020.

** “New Survey Reveals Crisis of Confidence in Workforce Readiness Among College Students,” Strada Education Network, published April 4, 2023.

*** Marcus, Jon, “College Leaders Refocus Attention on Their Students’ Top Priority: Jobs After Graduation,” The Hechinger Report, November 24, 2023.