A Decade of Univer sity Spor ts Facility Design Cour ses

摘要

Every fall over the last decade, interdisciplinary undergraduate student teams have designed athletic facilities for the Lehigh University campus. This initiative comprises part of the Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) program. The paper focuses on the procedures of this excellent model used to provide a real-world context for students to achieve academic objectives and learning opportunities of cross disciplinary undergraduate education, not otherwise available for many of them. The distinctive aspect of these designs is that they comprise a very utilitarian component in the ongoing planning for improvements to the university's athletic facilities, some being initial feasibility studies, and some slated for construction. Procedures used to select realistic projects and establish the university as a "real" client are reviewed, as are the requirements of the presentations and deliverables so that they can be used for an implementation decision by the appropriate client representatives (alumni donors, faculty, student athletes, and staff such as sports coaches and the Associate Vice President for Facilities Services and Campus Planning). The process of involving faculty and recruiting and selecting students is explained, along with creating an atmosphere of excitement and desire to be included.