Honors administrators spend much of their time explaining and describing what honors is and does. When they talk about what honors looks like nationally, they should have answers to the following important questions: How pervasive is the model of separate honors facilities?; How pervasive are the legendary closets that honors programs have so…

Space is both an asset and a burden for colleges and universities. On the one hand, space holds enormous value for institutions; their campuses and buildings are worth, in many cases, hundreds of millions of dollars. Space is the medium in which the institution operates. Online courses have proven that education can be conducted anywhere, but most…

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…

School districts' ongoing efforts to promote sustainability in America's education facilities are helping raise awareness of social responsibility and promoting the positive effects that greening their learning environments has on the general health and productivity of students. One institution that's taking the lead in this movement is Chandler…

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…

Securing appropriate facilities can be a significant challenge for those intending to open a charter school. Although, like all public schools, charter schools receive per-pupil dollars from the state, they generally receive considerably less. Additionally, because traditional public schools rely on their district to provide their school…

This document presents a sample request for proposal that Arizona school districts can use when requesting architectural services, from the general request requirements to response information and signature sheet. General proposal requirements cover such areas as information on special terms and conditions, the scope of architectural services…

In this interview with Dr. Homero Lopez, who brings thirty-two years of higher education experience to his position as the founding president of Estrella Mountain Community College, (Maricopa County Community College District of Arizona), topics centered on how learning spaces and campus design are planned and implemented on Estrella Mountain…

This report argues, using Arizona as an illustration, for a market-based school funding paradigm characterized by per-pupil allocations that follow each student to the school of their choice. The report explains what is wrong with the current system, compares the market-based approach to others that have been proposed, and demonstrates how…

Discusses the Arizona statewide mandate to spend $500 million to repair or replace roofs in its public school system. Data from the state's evaluation process are provided, including how the state will fund the project. (GR)

Discusses the problem of school deterioration and why it happened, the costs for repair, and the lack of federal relief in correcting it. Arizona's state funding effort for school maintenance and repair and the legal hurdles faced in developing plans for that purpose are examined. (GR)

Contains a planning prospectus a consultant group might utilize in serving the planning needs of a medium size school district. Includes the types of tasks and data which need to be performed and analyzed for the effective completion of a facility planning effort. Planning prospectus content was obtained from Tuba City School District, Arizona's…

This educational and architectural masterplan prepared for an architectural firm was a major component of the educational reform plan of a remote school system enrolling approximately 3,300 students on the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The study found the chronic underfunding of P.L. 81-815, Federal Impact Aid for Indian…