Co|Here Campus and Workplace

Here's a chance to answer this month's Co|Here Campus and Workplace newsletter poll, if you have not already. Responses will be summarized in our next newsletter. Add your input! Q: In your experience with campus planning and design, what groups of people and/or perspectives NEED TO BE INCLUDED MORE CONSISTENTLY IN the process? See the link for the response form in the comments.

Disability Employment is not just about hiring. What really matters is RETENTION and WORKPLACE CULTURE. Government Executive shares some startling statistics. The EEOC reported in 2018 people with disabilities were 27% more likely to leave federal employment than their non-disabled colleagues. Similarly, the US Government Accountability Office reported in 2020 of the 223,000 people with disabilities hired between 2011-2017 nearly 40% stayed less than one year. There are a few things every organization needs to improve retention. ✅ An accommodation policy and process that is simple, well defined and gets employees what they need within two weeks. ✅ Create a culture of inclusion. There should be visible signs of inclusion like using captions during meetings, asking about inclusion preferences frequently and often, a published list of accessible restaurants and hotels near your offices. ✅ Listen. Really listen to the employee experiences of what it's like to be disabled at your company. Sean Michael Newhouse | #DisabledAndCapable #EmployeeExperience #HumanResources #Amplify ID: An AI created image of employees milling around an office with glass window. Employees are in suits and two of the employees are wheelchair users.

I know my connections who think about design, planning, and stakeholder input will enjoy this picture I took on Rt. 22 East in NJ. Someone is taking matters into their own hands! #design #stakeholders #input

This is a good post from Rebekah Paré about the lessons higher ed can learn from the hospitality industry. I wanted to amplify two things, and they both have to do with MENTALITY. 🌴 Among other factors, the hospitality industry 1) assumes that its customers are unfamiliar with any particular facility or experience. Even if you're a rewards club member, you may have never been to many of their particular properties. They plan your experience, from outreach to space design, accordingly. 2) The hospitality industry also doesn't take its customers for granted. Lots of competition out there. 🔍 In higher ed, I think we too often make the mistake that students and stakeholders are familiar with the nature, location, etc. of our offerings. THEY OFTEN ARE NOT. So we need to get with point 1 above. We also take for granted that certain services will draw students in. NOT TRUE, but more because of a lack of awareness (although certain on-campus services have substitutes). So we also need to get with point 2. When I work on space planning projects with Co|Here Campus and Workplace higher ed clients, we know that spaces -- along with outreach and partnerships -- have to embody this mentality and support the kinds of practices Rebekah is talking about. It's not just about the function of the space once you get there. #planning #inclusion #highered

Time is ticking...the 2025 Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) Mid-Atlantic Conference will be next May in State College. The DEADLINE to submit a proposal to present is next week. Oct. 15 to be exact. See the link in the comments. It's not too late to finish. It's not necessarily even too late to start a proposal -- but that's just me. #highered #planning #students Penn State University Posted on behalf of the SCUP MA committee!

Important Inside Higher Ed article by Ashley Mowreader on ways to better serve student parents, focusing on institutions including California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo and California State University-Sacramento. One of the key themes is just how inflexible their caregiving and work schedules can be, which leads to disproportionately high rates of delay in starting college and in part-time status. If you want to start paving the way for student parents to attend and succeed at your institution, one of the best tools you have is your COURSE SCHEDULE. Co|Here Campus and Workplace can provide your institution with pragmatic near-term solutions that require little budgetary outlay. We also help with the analysis and laying the groundwork for more significant, longer-term changes. Leave a message here or reach out via the email address in the comments. Near term fixes include scheduling courses at a wider range of times, gauging the reasons why students can't get the courses they need, and re-thinking course modality -- preferably in ways that go beyond asynchronous online courses so that student parents get the live and in-person contact that can spur belonging and success.

Improvisation win! Had to take an important call from the road recently. Tests proved the Wifi in my hotel room was mediocre. So I went to the front desk and asked them to set me up somewhere with more reliable Wifi. I explained my request, I hope politely, that they advertised Wifi and unfortunately, that was not the case in my room. So they put me in a small conference room. The final detail was raising my laptop to provide a better viewing angle. Saved by the soda service that was either left over from the night before or waiting for the day's meetings to start in that room. #technology #remote #work

We're going to start distributing the newsletter directly via email. See within to subscribe to that if you'd like a little more convenience.

The first newsletter I did for Co|Here Campus and Workplace comes out next week for our higher ed friends. SUBSCRIBE via link in comments! The goal is for it to be a participatory, thought-provoking, community-building, and brief (read in 30 seconds or less) way to get a sprinkle of content in a fire hose world. I hope it will be a gateway (you're welcome!) to some new ideas for you. No risk -- unsubscribing will also be easy. But give it a try! #planning #highered #campus

As we prepare for Hurricane Helene to hit the Southeast - Florida, Georgia,, South Carolina, and North Carolina have all declared a state of emergency. Please use the resources below and the one's provided in your state to get prepared. With expected flooding of 15-20 ft in some locations, this is the time to activate your plan. #StaySafe #BePrepared ID: A cartoon image of various people with disabilities. Text reads Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities.