Article by Project Manager Mohammed Abdelaal Published By Prestigious Campus Planning Journal

An article co-authored by Mohammed Abdelaal, Project Manager for Facilities and Campus Services, was recently published in the Planning for Higher Education Journal by the Society for College and University Planning. The article, “A New Campus Planning Paradigm Emerges”, was co-authored by Robert Ryan, UMass Professor of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning. 
 

Abdelaal and Ryan spent over three years researching the many risks faced by place-based institutions, such as funding uncertainty, declining enrollment, rising costs, public skepticism, future workforce requirements, evolving academic technology, and decaying facilities. This article explores how major public research universities in the U.S. are adapting to address those risks, draws correlations between administrative, academic, and facilities-related challenges, and identifies a new campus planning paradigm that emphasizes adaptability, efficiency, data-dependency, and space optimization. 

Abdelaal, a 22-year veteran of the Campus Planning department, underscored that his research highlights how UMass is leading the way in successfully addressing these growing challenges in higher education, particularly for campus development. The university is part of a select group of 11 public institutions which have developed strategic and campus plans reflecting high levels of awareness of the ongoing transformations in higher education, and have implemented innovative and integrated planning strategies in response to shifts in learning modalities as well as administrative and facilities challenges.