A visitor to Saint John's University and Saint John's Abbey, in north-central Minnesota, sees something of Gothic heritage while standing in front of the abbey church, designed and built around 1960. The church's 112-foot campanile--a trapezoidal slab made of 2,500 tons of steel and concrete--stands boldly in front of a huge concrete honeycomb…

Architecture blends the arts and sciences in a vigorous way--one well suited to a university presidency. In this article, the author shares how his architectural education and background prepared and helped him for his responsibility as president of Clemson University. A big part of his responsibility is to help plan, financially support, build,…

Few documents in higher education have enjoyed the influence or longevity of the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the 1960 law that transformed the state's public colleges and served as a blueprint for public systems across the country. Even today, almost 50 years after it was written, the master plan retains a mythic status in…

A competition for design of a master plan to alleviate disorder, clutter, and a lack of landmarks on the University of Miami's campus is described, and a sampling of the competition's winning entries ranging from pragmatic to fantastical are presented. (MSE)

Reports on current efforts in many states to develop new long-range plans for their higher education systems. Finds that at least two dozen states are using strategic or "master" plans in an effort to deal with rapid technological and economic change. Specific efforts in West Virginia, California, Virginia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, and…

California state commission recommendations cover a wide range of issues, including freshmen and sophomore enrollment at universities, minority student and faculty recruitment, and the tenure review process. The plans would update the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education. (LB)