Sometimes the most sustainable strategies in higher education are hidden in plain view. That’s Annie Newman’s point in her article “Do more, build less,” which appears as an online exclusive in the July 2011 issue of University Business magazine.

In the article, Annie discusses the ways that institutions can reduce capital costs and environmental impact through wise space use, and the strategies for managing existing space efficiently.

As the leader of Shepley Bulfinch’s planning practice, Annie has conducted space utilization studies for campus across the US and has presented and blogged on the ...[more]

2010 PKAL Learning Space Collaboratory National Colloquium. Whew! That’s quite a mouthful. I was fortunate enough to attend, and it was a great weekend of very robust discussion (and some fun!).

Under the guidance of Jeannie Narum, Principal of the Collaboratory, nearly a hundred educators, higher ed administrators, architects, planners, landscape architects, librarians, scientists, and others came together to share their knowledge and questions about “What We Know About Planning Learning Spaces and What We Still Need to Know”.

A combination of presentations, interactive sessions, small group work, the Colloquium modeled the type of ...[more]

Lawrence Biemiller recently opened a HUGE can of worms in the Chronicle of Higher Education when he asked whether all faculty members really need private offices (article). At 92 comments and counting, the overwhelming majority of faculty members responding are vehemently opposed. They cite need for confidential discussions with students, inability to work in a communal environment, and challenges to status (“when administrators do it, I will”) among other reasons.

Even though I am a campus planner who works in an open, collaborative environment, I think the faculty have a ...[more]

As a participant in Herman Miller’s Spring 2009 Higher Education Leadership Roundtable, I found the opportunity to sit and talk with thought leaders across the spectrum of higher education to be highly stimulating.

We spent two days discussing scenarios for learning that had been developed in 2005 and summarized in Herman Miller’s Outlook for Learning white paper – which ones were still valid, which ones had not come to pass, which ones were we still waiting for? In spite of the overarching theme of today’s economic realities, we still believed that every challenge presents an opportunity – and that higher education leaders are the ones who need to capitalize on these ...[more]

DAVIDSON, NC – The campus master plan is front-and-center in an article that appears in today’s issue of The Davidsonian, the campus newspaper of Davidson College.

In the article Annie Newman, Shepley’s director of planning, discusses how the master plan offers a framework for campus development, developing a physical campus that supports and advances the College’s strategic plan.

Annie brings her team to the campus on November 9 for a series of presentations and discussions with students, faculty, and staff, about master plan concepts, feedback, and new ideas. Shepley hosted a team from Davidson for an in-house master planning charrette in Boston in late October.

Davidsonian article – 4 November 2009

Annie Newman, who leads Shepley Bulfinch’s master planning work, is April’s guest blogger on the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Buildings and Grounds web page.

Nationally recognized for her work on space utilization, Annie spoke on the subject at the 2008 Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) annual conference in Montreal.

Her blogs appear on the Chronicle’s website four times this month (see links below).

http://chronicle.com/blogs/architecture/2746/ann-k-newman-colleges-must-think-beyond-space-management