Kelsey Rozema, best of luck at the University of Illinois!

But wait…I have a disclaimer.  I didn’t have a maid in college. Or any other time. I actually worked as a maid, for a little while, between other jobs. All things considered, it was a nice job. I listened to music on headphones and I cleaned private homes, which were usually not particularly dirty. But still, the idea of having a maid is foreign to me, especially having a maid in college.

I’m probably just saying this as an Old Grumpy Person, but I think it was useful to see how appallingly dirty a space can get without enough cleaning. I realized, sometime during my junior year while evaluating my bathroom before a parental visit, that there was nothing inherently clean about precious me.  The bathroom was disgusting, it reflected badly on me, and I had to do something about it, lest I make my mother cry. In my late-teens and early 20s, I gradually became a tidier person. When I had to clean my own space, I tended to be more respectful of it and more careful not to mess it up again. I’m far from a tidy person right now (just ask my ACUHO-I colleagues, who have seen my office), and my husband and I have a dog whose primary avocation is shedding hairs that corkscrew themselves into our rugs and clothing. But I think learning to clean, by learning about not cleaning, was useful.

That said, I understand about the staph infections. My housemates and I are probably fortunate we were not killed by our own bathroom, though we found our ancient and thunderous washer quite fearsome. Our worries were probably misplaced.

The writers go back to the principles of designer Dieter Rams — who is famous for his Braun product designs of the 1950s and ’60s — who had 10 rules for good design. According to Rams:

• Good design is innovative.
• Good design makes a product useful.
• Good design is aesthetic.
• Good design helps us to understand a product.
• Good design is unobtrusive.
• Good design is honest.
• Good design is durable.
• Good design is consequent to the last detail.
• Good design is concerned with the environment.
• Good design is as little design as possible.

These rules certainly sound like the same checklist an architect or housing officer might go through when designing a new residence hall. Anyone who has seen the halls being constructed today — or the designs submitted for the 21st Century Project competitions — certainly know that designs are much more purposeful. Features that might get labeled as “extravagant” by those who only know of the double-loaded corridor  — study lounges, wireless networks, fitness centers, music practice rooms, etc. –are actually just good design that allows students to get the most from their living experience.

I was particularly taken with the last bullet: good design is as little design as possible. Since I’ve been working with ACUHO-I, I have had a chance to “live” vicariously in a variety of new halls. And you wouldn’t believe how many times our communications team looks at one of our Spotlight halls and wants to re-enroll ASAP. But I’ve been amazed to learn how purposeful so many design features are and how much work goes into the elements that (at first) appear small and spontaneous.

The same can be said of designing an educational or training program. Those who are successful at creating these know that an awful lot of work goes into making the connections and revelations appear effortless.

What say you? What are some examples off good design — in residence halls or otherwise — you’ve experienced in your world?

And, if anyone has an iPad they would like to send my way, you know where to find me.

The New York Times

Ahem. So while Cruiser is most certainly adept, we would like to point out that the Talking Stick, and ACUHO-I in general, scooped The New York Times on this topic. Take that, Gray Lady! In our story, bedbug sniffer Jack–just as adorable and proficient as Cruiser, by the way–was the star. Jack demonstrated his talents at our Business Operations conference last October. See Wayne Walker’s October 2009 presentation on the subject in our library.

For yet another take on bedbugs, listen to the Fear of Sleep This American Life episode. Act two discusses bedbugs, and how intractable they are.

Higher education and student housing are experiencing the same trends. Especially vulnerable is the facilities department; the longtime employees there know the quirks of each building; where lines are buried, the unwritten details of the university’s history with a specific contractor. This knowledge isn’t written down; it’s in the facilities’ professionals’ heads, and if they leave, it goes with them. Compounding the issue is a paucity of young professionals in facilities-related fields and trades. For example, The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the job market will be wide open for electricians, physical plant operators, and HVAC mechanics in the near future, as longtime professionals retire and not enough young professionals are on track to replace them.

What to do? Knowledge databases, mentoring and shadowing are among the solutions institutions are trying. The Chronicle of Higher Education has an article on the topic, and The Talking Stick discussed the subject in 2007: “Replacement Parts” by Dave Sagaser.

What’s happening on your campus? Are succession plans in place? Is there active mentoring taking place already? Share in the comments section.

Some institutions have noticed a greater percentage of their applicants are in the younger age group. These students often want more of the “student life” opportunities that they would get at a four-year institution, and some community colleges are responding, according to an article in Inside HigherEd. We already have heard about community colleges building residence halls; now there’s at least one building a student center, to better facilitate student group meetings, study groups and the like. The construction was inspired by the administration’s conversations with students regarding what would improve their experience at the school. Student centers are not unheard of at community colleges, but they aren’t common, either.

New York University

In this lot.

See? It’ll be in that narrow, 60-foot-wide area just behind the streetlight, between the tan building and the dark brown building. The campus will occupy a 75,000 square foot building (to be constructed) and will be known to the acronym-happy as NYU-D.C. The campus will include five floors of student living space and classroom space. The living area will house 200 students, whose classes will be through the College of Arts & Sciences. History, journalism, politics, art history and economics will be the initial offerings when the campus opens in the fall of 2012. Nesting all the functions for daytime learning and nighttime living was quite a trick for the architects, according to a story in the Washington Business Journal: “It was like putting a little Swiss watch together, but we got it to work,” said architect Laurence Caudle.

Watch CBS Videos Online

Check out the full photo gallery and then use the comment section to discuss if you’ve implemented green roofs on any of your campus buildings.

Among the intended projects listed in the official release from the school, was a new residence hall on the university’s Crookston campus. The article also discusses how the University of West Florida is taking advantage of additional changes in tax law that will open more funding options for their much-needed new residence hall; receiving a $15 million loan that would not have been possible just three months ago.