In another episode of Student Success: Built by Design, our panel of experts sits down to discuss the third layer of Maslow’s pyramid, the psychological needs for community and belonging. Once again joining the discussion are Dr. Joel Peterson, Aurora Ayala, Andrea Stalker, and Jeff Johnson, who bring unique perspectives on how built environments, facilities management, and inclusive design contribute to better educational outcomes.

The conversation covers how campus design influences student connectivity, trust, community, and belonging. Dr. Peterson reminds us how unmet lower needs show up later when they hinder higher ones and that these needs can be met simultaneously. They draw connections from these ideas to planning environments that feel welcoming rather than surveilled. The panel talks about designing spaces at multiple social scales, from intimate nooks to larger gathering areas, and notes how building character, cleanliness, and maintenance affect student behavior and comfort. They also describe intentional construction communication and community engagement that builds ownership.

Episode Guide:

02:24 Maslow Social Needs Explained

04:34 Designing for Trust and Belonging

05:32 Spaces for Connection at Every Scale

10:47 Food Services and Student Centers

12:24 Athletics vs Housing Social Energy

14:17 Stewardship Maintenance and Broken Windows

16:21 Branding Wayfinding and Pride

17:51 Construction Engagement and Campus Staff

21:57 Modern Student Housing Community Design

26:24 Maintainability Lessons and Wrap Up

The Student Success: Built by Design is a production of San Diego Community College District and is produced by University FM.

Designing for choice creates real community

On designing a space built for students

People maintaining the building is a crucial component of belonging

20:56 [Dr. Joel Peterson] We train our maintenance staff and our custodial staff and our ground staff to be friendly and professional, that they greet the students, that they greet faculty members...And the fact that we have buildings at night that have custodial staff makes people feel less alone and potentially, when they're feeling more vulnerable in an evening sense, and they know when they've got people that are there working on the building or around the building. So this isn't just the design, but it's the people that will occupy it in maintaining it, our crucial component of this belonging.

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Welcome back to Student Success: Built by Design, where our panel of experts discuss the overlap of architecture and education, and how both intersect in the multifaceted concept of Student Success. Joining the discussion are Dr. Joel Peterson, Aurora Ayala, Jennifer Gibb, Andrea Stalker, and Jeff Johnson, who share their unique perspectives on how built environments, facilities management, and inclusive design contribute to better educational outcomes.

In this episode, we dive into the foundational levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs - both the Physiological needs and the Safety needs. Including how clean air, water, shelter, lighting, accessibility, and secure circulation all contribute to the creation of both real safety and also the perception of safety, which can be equally as important. Our experts share real stories from their years in the field of instances of these sorts of challenges that they had to address. Examples include motion-sensor lighting and fencing to address hidden, dark campus areas, and learning lessons in HVAC/air-quality, such as HEPA filtration balanced against staffing and lifecycle maintenance constraints. 

The group highlights crime prevention through environmental design, district design standards, and joint collaboration among architects, builders, facilities, and campus police to ensure constructability, code compliance, and maintainability without accidentally creating “bunker-like” spaces in the process.

Episode Guide:

The Student Success: Built by Design is a production of San Diego Community College District and is produced by University FM.

Safety as the foundation of SDCCD facilities

06:19: [Aurora Ayala] The foundation of everything that we do, from the interview of the architects that we want to select. That is literally what our chancellor looks like. How will you incorporate design? How will you think of the design when you're thinking of design? Like, how do you incorporate safety? And by that, it's minimizing hidden spots by proper lighting, minimize how to install cameras by how you place the common areas so that there can be line of sight. When we're looking at where we place trees, when they're fully grown, are they going to obstruct lighting? Do we put bollard lighting? Do we put wall stanchions? JJust, like, everything that we think about from the beginning of a program, we're thinking of the safety of the students.

On designing campuses students feel they belong

24:43: [Auro Ayala] What we want is our students to know that this is their area, their community, and if there's anyone that's there, it is because they're there for the same purpose, to take a course, to take advantage of our community college and the community environment that we've worked so hard for.

Student success is built on meeting the human needs

04:42: [Dr. Joel Peterson]  Student success is built upon a foundation of meeting the underlying human needs that must be met, or to the extent that we don't meet them, it can get in the way of student success. And at the very basic level are just the most physiologically necessary components. We all must breathe. We need air, and we need clean air. We need to have water and food. We need to have shelter. And those things get brought into the very basic level of design.

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In this inaugural episode, our panel of experts in both architecture and education delves into the multifaceted concept of Student Success, focusing on various dimensions such as personal, academic, and social achievements. Joining the discussion are Dr. Joel Peterson, Aurora Ayala, Jennifer Gibb, Andrea Stalker, and Jeff Johnson who share their unique perspectives on how built environments, facilities management, and inclusive design contribute to better educational outcomes. 

Their conversation covers theoretical frameworks like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, practical insights into maintaining and constructing effective educational spaces under San Diego’s Measure HH, and evidence-based design principles. The episode emphasizes the importance of creating safe, sustainable, and inclusive environments that foster student success.

Episode Guide:

The Student Success: Built by Design is a production of San Diego Community College District and is produced by University FM.

The launchpad for transforming generations

34:18 [Dr. Joel Peterson] We have clearly been the launchpad and the initial important trajectory that has set people to not only transform their lives, but to circle completely back and start being part of the process of transforming the next generation of student lives. And those are not apocryphal rare stories, they are quite a lot.

SDCCD leading in student return on investment 

36:38: [Andrea Stalker] What is so inspiring about San Diego Community College District is you guys are already doing it so well… [37:01] Your three conferences, colleges ranked second, third, and fourth in the state for return on investment for your students.

On removing the architectural roadblocks to learning

20:12 [Dr. Joel Peterson] The things that we do probably do not have a direct link to student success. But the things that we do can have a direct link to stopping student success. If we don’t make it safe, if we do not make it inclusive, if we do not give it a sense of creativity, you know, then no matter what that teacher does in the classroom, no matter what the teaching tools are, how strong the microscope, you know, how good the planetarium, that we can block that learning, that success, that fulfillment and achievement from happening.

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Welcome to Student Success: Built by Design - a podcast about how the built environment contributes to several aspects of academic success and what those factors look like. We will explore these topics one by one, following a framework along Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, in discussions with a panel of experts across the fields of Higher Education, Architecture, Construction, and Design.

Dive deep into the issues that affect how students live and learn. Join Dr. Joel Peterson, Aurora Ayala, Andrea Stalker, Jennifer Gibb, and Jeff Johnson each episode as they discuss the issues, examine case studies, and unpack the key ingredients of Student Success.

Subscribe to Student Success: Built by Design wherever you get your podcasts and don’t miss the first episode available in April, with new episodes on the third Thursday of every month!

The Student Success: Built by Design is a production of San Diego Community College District and is produced by 

University FM.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.