Student Success: Built by Design

Spaces that Assist in Mastering Skills, with Security in Mind - Psychological Needs Part 2

team@ventures.fm (University.fm) — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Student Success: Built by Design, our panel of experts sits back down to continue their discussion of the third layer of Maslow’s pyramid, the psychological needs for community and belonging. Checking back in with Dr. Joel Peterson, Aurora Ayala, Andrea Stalker, Jennifer Gibb, and Jeff Johnson, who all bring industry-based perspectives on how built environments, facilities management, and inclusive design all contribute to better educational outcomes.

Their discussion explores how to plan, design, and construct spaces while balancing several considerations of both helping students master skills better, and also providing them places that are safe and secure from potential natural dangers and natural disasters. They explore the milestones associated with a project, and how they might look different than you would expect. Looking in from the construction perspective the conversation looks at how to help campus buildings fit into their sense of space, using similar design, local materials, and utilizing native plants to create an authentic and ecologically-minded space. Listen in to hear how Bond Measure HH has been and continues to be instrumental in these amazing improvements.

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

Episode Guide:

02:02 Panel Introductions

03:09 Maslow’s Psychological Needs Explained

05:26 How Spaces Can Support Skills Mastery

07:44 Design Helping Students Feel Safe and Considered

10:16 What do Success Milestones look like in Construction

15:30 Removing Unnecessary Distractions

17:02 Varying Spaces for Different User Types

20:51 Ways to Minimize Uncertainty and Fear

23:58 Making Sure Spaces are up to Code

26:05 Fitting Buildings Into the Sense of Space

28:54 Using Native Plants and Local Materials

30:37 Measure HH’s Use in Projects

33:39 Conclusion and Closing Remarks

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

Show Links:

Episode Quotes:

Safety starts in the parking lot

21:15: [Aurora Ayala] It's lighting corners where there's no visibility. It's even the location of planting and furniture that we don't have any hidden areas. That's all designed with intent, right? We're making sure that everything that we do, that we're keeping our students, and just anyone that's in that area safe. When you were talking about the basketball game, I was thinking about the locker rooms and how it starts in the locker room, it starts in the parking lot, it starts in the showers when they're getting ready. It starts with our team making, and by our team, I mean on the facility side, making sure that every area that our students touch and our visitors touch is clean, it's well-maintained. The locker rooms, they're prepped before they get out there, that those areas are, are a sense of identity.

Designing spaces for pure mastery

15:29: [Dr. Joel Peterson] We also try to remove the distractions. We take away the variations of, say, wind or noise or some of these other parts. Concert halls are perfect for that. We don't have windows in those places because glass doesn't reverberate in the right kind of way, and the light changing can do things with combination of acoustics and, and other type of interior lighting. So those are just examples of how we design to help to support the mastery, the acquisition of it, the demonstration of it, and the appreciation and recognition of it, and that is what the design space, I think, really reflects. And then the added sort of icing on the cake, to Jennifer's and Aurora's point, is that once we have these things built or in the process of it, we can start reinforcing these things by bringing people in to celebrate, to feel like they belong, that they are masters of the process itself and included into that whole process.

Designing the campus haven

08:19: [Aurora Ayala] Every intent of design, every intent of maintenance is really to give the student a sense of feeling like the classroom, the open environment, the outdoor environment is their safe haven here.

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Designing Spaces Where Students Feel They Belong - Psychological Needs Part 1

team@ventures.fm (University.fm) — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0000

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.

Show Links:

Episode Quotes:

Designing for choice creates real community
26:01 [Andrea Stalker] Different individuals need different amounts of privacy or desire different amounts of privacy or separation. So having an option where you can be alone almost all the time, apartments or suites where you have more interaction. So having a choice is super beneficial for allowing someone to feel comfortable in their home environment and space, and then establishing that what we call that floor mate or that floor community, and having that, you know, 30 to 40 people that you can really relate to at a given time, and it's your support group. It's your immediate community that you go to, while still feeling like you're a part of that broader community and recognizing that broader community is supported by many of the amenities that you're providing in the space like your outdoor courtyards that are gathering spaces or places where you can go for multipurpose events or larger, broader community-oriented things that bring everyone together. And that establishment of really those three layers allows you then to develop different levels of relationship that are so important for someone's sort of personal and social success.

On designing a space built for students
10:09 [Aurora Ayala] I think we've seen it across all of our projects, that when we design with intent, when our spaces really do say you belong here, and our students feel it, like we, you can tell because they linger. You can tell because they will intentionally stay in a place and just have conversations, and that's their spot during their breaks. They enjoy the environment that they're in because we designed it with intent.

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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The Foundation – Exploring Physical Needs in Design

team@ventures.fm (University.fm) — Thu, 21 May 2026 14:00:00 +0000

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:

03:01 Meet the Panel
03:34 Maslow’s Basics
05:38 Safety by Design
09:27 Construction Reality Check
12:15 Pandemic Air Quality
16:12 HVAC Lessons Learned
27:07 Balancing Building Codes and Creativity
32:11 Collaboration and Quality Control
37:13 Maintainability Matters
40:57 Final Thoughts and Conclusion

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

Show Links:

Episode Quotes:

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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Big Picture – Student Success: The Lens We Look Through

team@ventures.fm (University.fm) — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 02:26:07 +0000

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:

00:00 Introduction and Overview
01:09 Meet the Panelists
05:39 Defining Student Success
09:39 The Role of Physical Environment in Student Success
13:14 Challenges and Considerations in Design
15:27 Maslow's Hierarchy and Student Needs
19:34 Using Measure HH Funds
23:43 Case Studies and Real-World Applications
34:34 Success Stories and Impact
35:51 Conclusion and Closing Remarks

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

Episode Quotes:

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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Introducing: Student Success: Built by Design

team@ventures.fm (University.fm) — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:00:00 +0000

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.