More than the comforts of home

By: Mario Cacciottolo

Colleges and universities recognise the competitiveness of the market.
Campuses have been drastically improved.
New Colorado campus projects generated by student interest and need.

When university trustees sit round and decide upon their plans for the next few years, the condition and capabilities of their facilities are always on the agenda. The reasons for these type of discussions, however, are changing. Campus facilities must always strive to address the needs of current and future students, and it is the emphasis on attracting the latter which is on the increase.

Colleges and universities recognise the competitiveness of the market.

Colleges and universities are recognising the competitiveness of the market for excellent students, and are striving to supply high quality amenities to create a more attractive institution. Trustees want to maintain and improve their campuses as beautiful, comfortable places for a variety of reasons, with above all an academic reputation always of paramount importance. But a college with top class athletic, recreational and residential facilities will equally catch the student's eye, and that of their parents'.

Figures on amenity spending have not been separately compiled, yet across the United States higher learning institutions spent over $7.3 billion on construction and renovation in 1998. That figure is expected to double by the end of this year.

Campuses have been drastically improved.

Campuses have been drastically improved in the course of such expenditure, with increasingly better facilities provided by such items as microwaves, Internet terminals, cable TV in dormitories and top class athletic and recreational amenities. Boston's Northeastern University has opened the Marino Recreation Centre, covering 81,000 square feet, complete with saunas, basketball courts and workout studios. Less energetic students can shop in the supermarket, or eat in the Italian restaurant, enjoying the aesthetic surroundings of fountains and indoor vegetation. Occidental College in Los Angeles spent $14 million last year to create "The Servery", a fashionable eating establishment long removed from the gulag style cafeteria of years gone by. This eatery has a bakery, pasta corner, and alternative foods table amongst others. They've even borrowed an idea from Disneyland, where an electronic counter displays the minutes left before the student's food is ready.

Not everyone can afford, or is allowed, to spend money this way however. California State law dictates that construction has to be financed by the students, which means higher fees, and that has dulled interest. Although there are some exceptions - students at UC Davis voted for a fee increase in order to receive recreational sports facilities.

There is help available, for those institutions whose state laws allow it, from the private sector. There are a small number of construction firms which are assisting colleges to create the facilities they desire without a massive financial burden, by not requiring any capital to be put up. The builder negotiates and secures investment, then leases the rooms to the students. The resultant revenue is shared with the college. This method allows academic institutes to compete and update without the spectre of massive debt.

New Colorado campus projects generated by student interest and need.

Colorado College made headlines recently when it installed a 27 foot indoor climbing wall, despite the latest dorm rooms being blessed with views of the Rockies. "We believe that maintaining and improving the institution, academically and physically, is necessary to be true to our mission," says Todd Wilson, Director of College Relations. "If we do that, students will come for the overall Colorado College experience, not because we have a climbing wall or a fancy dining hall."

Most of the new Colorado campus projects were generated by student interest and need. The climbing wall, explains Wilson, was funded by a generous memorial gift and spurred by a group of interested students on campus, and not planned by the faculty or administrators. The theme of student-led improvements is continued by the opening of the Western Ridge Housing Complex, Colorado's first new set of student housing. These are apartment style and situated on campus, "something upper-class students have told us for years that they'd like" says Wilson. "It's all about student need and desire, and we believe that having more students on campus, which will happen when Western Ridge is done, will provide newer students with more interaction with upper-class ones, as well as keeping them all happy by providing a decent place to live."

Colorado College is in its 127th year with strong and stable enrolment. Subsequently Wilson dismisses suggestions that their recent facilities program is the simple act of providing 'perks', claiming that "marketing is not our highest priority for campus improvements". Instead Colorado's efforts are regarded as part of the overall attempt to be true to their mission, which calls for "some new facilities, better landscaping design, historic preservation and maintenance of our 90 acre campus."

But higher education officials are still claiming that this drive to improve the life on campus is necessary to attract new students in the face of increasing competition, and largely responsible for driving up the cost of tuition. The expense of such improvements can still get passed onto students, even when the construction firms are providing the project funding. There is little alternative, say both private and public institutions, if they are to be competitive in the education market.

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