Association of University Architects
1998 Case Study Awards Program

As our universities grow and recognize the importance of competing for students, we have begun to return to the ideals on which we were founded. The free exchange of ideas is fundamental to the purpose of higher education, and most campuses are making changes to support this ideal.

The building of communities "an identity, a sense of belonging, and an opportunity for the exchange of ideas" is an important part of the successful university. Communities are developed at every opportunity. Successfully retaining faculty and students, depends on their feeling a part of a community whether it be the faculty club or the student union. Programmatically, universities are finding ways to create teaching situations in which the smallest number of students can interact with their teachers; students themselves are becoming more politically active.