PKAL Volume IV: What Works, What Matters, What Lasts

STEM Facilities Planning

The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program

Lessons learned in planning STEM facilities from the PKAL-Keck Consultation Program.
Advice on How to Survive in Less-than-Adequate Facilities
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
A university in the northeast recognized that new spaces for science were many years away and looked for advice on how to survive in the short-term in less-than-adequate facilities.
Aiming High on a Low Budget
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
A small Catholic college with big ambitions and a modest endowment hopes to design a science building that reflects its dreams of a nationally renowned undergraduate science program.
All the Pieces Are There, But Nobody's Talking
The Keck/PKAL ConsultationProgram
Th e president of a small college known for fine arts, teacher education, and health fields wants to establish a reputation in math and science as well and make the college the seat of a planned national math and science teaching center of excellence. The current science building is grossly inadequate and there is no emphasis on faculty or student research. A preliminary plan for renovation of the science building was completed a few years ago, but the college was unable to move forward.
Bringing the Sciences into the Spotlight
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
This report from a Keck/PKAL consultant team contains advice on how to "restart" a stalled facilities planning process, including recommendations for faculty, the advancement office, the president, division heads, and alumni.
Constructing New Facilities- One Step at a Time
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
The president of this small, private, mid-Atlantic college requested the consulting team come to campus to help a standing committee determine whether the current science building could be renovated or if a new facility is needed. The team determined a phased project-one in which additions to the existing structure are completed as funding is made available-suited the needs of the college. They also made design recommendations for the future facility.
Counsel at an Early Stage of Facilities Planning
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
On this campus, the Keck/PKAL consultants recognized that the community had moved too quickly to consider new facilities. They recommended a significant ‘step-back’ from thinking about spaces and suggested that a first step in the process of successful facilities planning was to have a broad consensus on goals.
Curricular Planning Must Come First
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
A thoughtful and well-articulated vision for teaching science is the most important element of a successful building project.
Leadership in Setting the Right Issues on the Table
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
This letter from the Keck/PKAL consultants advises a president of a college or university on planning new spaces for science.
New Facilities for Community Colleges
The Keck/PKAL Consultation program
The consulting team was invited by the chair of natural sciences to review the need for new science facilities at this community college in the southwest. The college has a history of providing training in technical areas. However, the transfer of students to baccalaureate campuses will become a prominent part of their mission as more students attend community colleges for their first two years of study.
Not Ready for Construction? Take these Steps First
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
There are many ways to improve an undergraduate science program. Upgrading scientific equipment, changing pedagogy, engaging in faculty development, providing summer research opportunities and renovating or enlarging facilities can all play an important role in program development.
Planning an Addition to Your Facility
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
This private university in the south is ready to begin the planning process for renovating and constructing an addition to the existing bioscience facility. Several planning stages must be passed through before construction can begin, but the consultant team agreed the university is ready to begin the process.
Planning Under a Deadline
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
A well-respected two-year college in a Midwest state system known for turning “slackers” into students with clear ambitions and goals seeks to renovate its science facilities to support changes in pedagogy and curriculum. The faculty in the natural sciences are enthusiastic, caring, dedicated professionals who want the best possible education for their students. They have spent considerable time developing and applying new pedagogical approaches and are highly invested in the opportunity to renovate the science facilities. Funds for renovation have been committed by the county and state, but the county has also imposed a tight timetable with construction scheduled to begin soon.
Preliminary Steps for Facility Renovation
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
This small, midwestern liberal arts college wishes to renovate their current science facility, but they need assistance in planning for new spaces. The college wishes to renovate the science hall that houses the biology, chemistry, math, computer science and physics departments.
Ready for Facility Construction? Develop an Institutional Vision
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
This private, liberal arts college located in the northeast revised their science curriculum with success. Now, they wish to construct state-of-the-art facilities to complement their curricular revisions. They realized the construction process begins with coordinated planning efforts and faculty collaboration.
Restarting a Building Process after Administrative Turnover
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
A small mid-states college is anxious to restart the building planning process after turnover in the upper echelons of the administration. The new president has named a facilities planning committee that is just beginning to determine how it will do its work. There seems to be significant change in administrative approach, and faculty and staff are still adapting to this shift. Past efforts have been less collaborative than ideal, but this project seems well on its way towards collaboration.
Sustaining Commitment to Facilities Planning
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
One southern campus had been engaged in a ‘fits and starts’ approach to thinking about new spaces, and needed help in thinking about ways to maintain the current momentum.
The Basics of Facility Construction
The Keck/PKAL Consultation Program
This small college on the west coast wishes to construct a new science facility. The consultants concluded that the college should develop comprehensive plans, establish working relationships within the campus and between the campus and the surrounding community, design the facility to accommodate trends in science education and adequately prepare to finance this large-scale project.