Case Studies College and University

A high school counselor in New Jersey once accidentally enrolled a sophomore in a junior/senior sports marketing class. The student was Brian Araujo, a teenager of Portuguese descent with a lifelong obsession with soccer. He could have been moved to another class. Instead, he stayed — and something clicked. Sitting among older students, absorbing the […]

Brock Rydecki does not define his career through titles, but through the evolution of Murray State University’s athletics footprint and the pressures shaping collegiate sports today. As senior associate athletic director for facilities and capital projects, he operates at the intersection of infrastructure, revenue strategy, and student-athlete experience, navigating a landscape reshaped by name, image, […]

Facilities used to be built on a simple premise in college athletics. Construct the biggest locker room, add the flashiest player amenities, and recruits would come. Bryan Stiles has watched that model fade in real time. In his view, the modern era of NIL, revenue pressure, and constant roster and coaching turnover has forced a […]

Auburn University’s athletic facilities rarely sit still. Renovations, repurposed spaces, new technology rollouts, premium seating concepts, and expanded event programming now define the operational rhythm across campus. At the center of that activity is Brent McNeely, Auburn’s Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities and Operations, who has spent more than two decades helping guide the physical […]

Northern Alberta’s Keyano College, a public, board-governed institution, serves the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and beyond with diverse educational opportunities. Keyano offers certificates, diplomas, university transfer programs, apprenticeships, and academic upgrading from its campuses in Fort McMurray, Fort Chipewyan, and other regional learning centers. The institution plays an active role in Campus Alberta, collaborating […]

York University, located in Toronto, is one of the largest universities in Canada and has undergone a significant growth phase. The university has three campuses in Toronto: Keele, Glendon, and a newly opened one in Markham. There is also a location in Costa Rica and India. The Markham campus welcomed its first cohort in September, […]

It takes some doing to earn the designation of Canadian Certified Healthcare Facility Manager. Bryan Wakefield reckons that everybody who has the certification, along with his experience, would fill a modest room with seats to spare. He garnered that certificate in 2019 while finishing a 14-year stretch at Ontario’s London Health Sciences Centre in facilities […]

When college students at Vancouver Island University have an issue in their room, say a flickering light or broken heater, they submit a maintenance request to the facilities department. While not all work can be completed immediately, students are typically satisfied if the problem is fixed in a few days, Burke Gulbranson says. However, if […]

Imagine you’re pulling an all-nighter for a crucial exam at the University of North Dakota, downing enough Red Bulls to fill a bathtub, when you’re suddenly overcome by a craving for a Chick-fil-A sandwich. What do you do? Drive to the fast-food alley in Grand Forks, of course. Before long, though, that late-night run won’t […]

He’s doing all he can to sustain a sense of normality for academic and social life at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. Safety is Bruce Boyer’s priority as he tells Blueprint during an autumn interview when the small, Catholic liberal arts campus is quieter than usual. Residence hall occupancy is at 1,500, down from its usual […]