William H. Weitzer discusses in his article the ways in which the University fosters community within students, faculty, staff, etc through physical spaces. During his time at Ann Arbor he was able to observe "how students and others used the benches and grassy areas of the “Diag” at the center of the Ann Arbor campus." For him that experience "demonstrated the importance of “place” in higher education, most notably how students work and play individually and in groups on a college campus."
I would be lead to agree with Weitzer in that participating at the University physically leads to different and more well rounding experience for the campus community. This of course comes on the heels of this digital push for campuses nationwide. Even here at UIUC with our virtual classrooms expanding I wonder what this means for our campus community. Take for example this summer, you will find that a larger number of classes are being offered online. If this beneficial for students and their performance? What about instructors and staff? How is this beneficial to all? While I do understand that students and staff will have more freedom with things like travel, I just think the outcome may be more beneficial with having a physical class space. Maybe its just me.
Read more here A 'Place' for Higher Education
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