The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and the Board of Governors are pleased to release the "2021-22 Five-Year Capital Outlay Plan for the California Community Colleges." To support community college districts grow and improve their educational facilities, the Facilities Planning Unit of the California Community Colleges…

The California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and the Board of Governors are pleased to release the "2020-21 Five-Year Capital Outlay Plan for the California Community Colleges." To support community college districts grow and improve their educational facilities, the Facilities Planning Unit of the California Community Colleges…

The Governor of California annually submits a five-year capital infrastructure plan to the Legislature in conjunction with the governor's budget. To accomplish this, every entity of state government is required to provide to the Department of Finance information related to capital infrastructure needs and costs for a five-year period. This report…

The 2017 Thought Leaders report focuses on "Transforming Facilities to Achieve Student Success." The report makes the case that student success starts with retention and graduation, but it can expand to include factors from personal career goals to social responsibility. A key message from the report is that through strategic investment…

On many college campuses, the 21st century classroom is the exception rather than the norm. Here's what usually happens: A forward-thinking administrator pushes for a pilot program to redesign a handful of classrooms. The resulting learning spaces are cutting edge and successful--in high demand among faculty and students alike. And that's as far…

Colleges and universities have been among the leaders nationwide in adopting green initiatives, partly due to their demographics, but also because they are facing their own budget pressures. Virtualization has become the poster child of many schools' efforts, because it provides significant bang for the buck. However, more and more higher…

Climate change planning is fast becoming an important element in university policy and governance. As the causes and impacts of global climate change become more apparent, many universities are embracing climate planning roles as community leaders, educators and researchers, and operators of major activity centers. For example, 685 university…

After a 35-year building hiatus, the nine colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) needed a major facelift. Facilities on LACCD campuses were antiquated and had fallen into disrepair. For years, students voiced dismay, saying their campuses resembled high schools rather than colleges. Inadequate infrastructure drove many…

In the early 1990s, Pomona College began planning to replace a cramped, plain building that had served as its campus center for decades. The Smith Campus Center, which was opened in 1999 and costs $18.3 million during construction, ended up being ignored by students. After tweaking things and achieving little results, the college decided to hire…

Entering 2010 is a turning point in the debate on global climate change, in which the focus is rapidly moving from a scientific analysis of how human activity affects climate to a political discussion on how best to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions so as to lessen the human and environmental toll of global climatic disruption. Policymakers…

The economic outlook may be sour for Wall Street's investment banks and for homeowners who took out mortgages they could not really afford, but campus planners and architects say that--so far, at least--colleges' construction plans are largely unaffected by the downturn. Some colleges, in fact, are trying to speed up projects to limit the damage…

Schools and universities should have a thorough plan that sets priorities for the most pressing facility renovations. With remedial programs, enrichment offerings, recreational activities and extended-year schedules, many school facilities are no longer dormant in the summer months. The increased year-round use of education facilities benefits…

Benchmarks for cleanliness can be subjective. Now that LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards are gaining a foothold among facilities management and building professionals, there is a benchmark to strive for and a high-quality vacuum is a key part of the equation. LEED is a nationally accepted benchmark and blueprint for…

This article reports on a library renovation at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona which incurs complaints from professors and librarians about a shift from print to online materials. The $60-million project at Cal Poly is providing a difficult lesson in the challenges of library renovation, and in the changing role of one of the…