2019 SCUP Southern Regional Conference Top 4 Takeaways

1. Integrating Resilience 

Colleges and Universities aim to be Environmental Innovators and aim to focus on sustainability and engage in authentic and experiential learning to develop a meaningful sense of stewardship. Today, higher education institutions are expected to be good stewards of the environment and ensure they not only stay compliant but also become sustainability innovators. Owing to past Environmental Protection Agency regulations and compliance requirements, education institutions have become leaders in the pursuit of environmental and sustainability goals. Increasingly, institutions are identifying areas where they can actually go beyond mere compliance and evolve into proactive management to support more progressive campus-wide environmental and sustainability goals.

2. Humanics

"We in higher education want to change the world, but we don’t want to change ourselves” and “life-long learning is a necessity for our future.” -Joseph E. Aoun, President, Northeastern University. In the opening keynote Joseph E. Aoun, President, Northeastern University, spoke about the concept of humanics, a new learning model that aims to prepare college students to understand the highly technological world around them as well as to nurture unique human qualities such as creativity. As Artificial Intelligence becomes more commonplace, it is essential that students of all ages learn how to navigate this new digital landscape and still maintain the “robot -proof” cognitive capacities.

3. Green Build

Focus to collaborate on sustainability and engage in authentic and experiential learning to develop a meaningful sense of stewardship. Planners at Colleges and Universities are preparing for the ways in which Climate Change will impact their campuses in 20 to 50 to 100 years. They are reflecting on how they can make long-term changes that will have positive impact now and in the future. Energy Efficiency Savings is a bigger priority that it has ever been.

4. Social Well-Being and Development

Create more unplanned interactions between the students and incorporate active design within high-traffic areas to encourage students to socialize with their peers. Create flexible and purposeful collision spaces that promotes physical, social, and mental well-being on campus. Purposefully designed walkways and strategically located parking lots can encourage more physical activity and social interaction and lead to better mental health among your students.