Latest Reports

The most-read Tradeline articles in 2020 reflect how the industry has responded to the COVID-19 crisis with flexibility and adaptability. From virtual site visits and virus-mitigating HVAC solutions to forward-looking models for office work, research programs, and higher education, readers learned about the innovative solutions that peer organizations have adopted to weather the storm and position themselves to thrive in the recovery.

Reflecting the pedagogical shift to student-led inquiry and collaborative learning, the Community Learning Center (CLC) is emerging as an important tool for student success. Results from in-depth studies at three Texas public universities with recently launched residence hall CLCs indicate that the new spaces have had a positive impact on student success, well-being, and retention.

The new Fourth and Montgomery building, scheduled to open in January 2021 in downtown Portland, Oregon, is a remarkable example of how pooling financial, intellectual, and physical resources can allow public institutions to accomplish much more by working together than would be possible if attempted separately. The seven-story, $111 million building will be owned and occupied by The City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Portland Community College’s Dental Sciences Programs, and Portland State University’s (PSU) College of Education and the PSU | Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) PSU School of Public Health. To simplify the process of working with multiple stakeholders, the project team used an integrated project delivery planning tool called “Choosing by Advantages” (CBA) that helped them manage complex decisions and keep the project on schedule and within budget.

Amherst College in Massachusetts is looking to the future with a new science center that supports active learning and project-based teaching, with a sustainable, energy-efficient design highlighted by innovative labs, high-tech classrooms, and departmental and interdisciplinary collaboration. College leaders say the building—designed with enough flexibility to address new pedagogies and meet the changing needs of students and faculty—will support the science programs through the next century, decrease energy consumption by 76 percent, and create a transformative sense of campus community.

Arguably one of the most challenging aspects of planning students’ return to campus has been around teaching labs, where working hands on, in groups, for hours on end is paramount to the learning experience. Solutions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 vary among institutions, depending largely on the facilities they have available to them, but commonalities include more PPE, shorter lab sessions with fewer students, and a lot more solo work, supported by remote learning.