Spring Reading

Three new articles are available on the Online Only section of University Business magazine's website.

First, "How We Did It: Public Private Partnership" explains how officials at the University of Washington School of Medicine pursued alternative market rate financing to fund the construction of a top-notch, off-campus laboratory. Authored by Anthony Gianopoulos, an associate principal with Perkins+Will's Seattle office, and Jill Morelli, the school's director of facilities, the piece describes the thinking and planning that went into financing this process through a public private partnership.

In another real estate piece, Matthew A. Ward, a senior vice president of The Alter Group, a national corporate real estate developer, discusses in "A Prime Investment" how commercial real estate can fill the need for providing additional student housing. He tells how eight floors of the Pittsfield Building, a historic structure in downtown Chicago, were remodeled to become Fornelli Hall, a residence for Roosevelt University and Robert Morris College (Ill.) students.

Another "R" buzzword for higher education is retention. In "Retain Students Retain Budgets: A How To," Neal Raisman, a researcher, writer, and retention consultant, says, on average, a college or university can lose between 30-48 percent of its enrollment each year. Raisman offers some equations for estimating revenue loss as well as examples on how to rethink your institution's approach to this topic.