Building the Future of Higher Ed: Vanderbilt’s Multi-Campus Strategy

In this episode of The Construction Insiders Podcast, host Jessica Busch is joined by leaders from Vanderbilt University and Cumming Group to explore how universities are reimagining their campuses during a time of shifting demographics, evolving learning models, and financial headwinds.

From balancing expansion with fiscal responsibility to creating spaces that inspire connection and discovery, this conversation goes beyond campus walls to uncover how higher education is shaping the future built environment.

Watch the full episode and subscribe to stay updated on the trends transforming construction and education.

Transcript

[00:00:00] Jessica Busch: With the uncertainty in many markets. How are universities balancing expansion with financial prudence, let's call it?  

[00:00:08] RJ Panda: Uh, it's been an arms race on college campuses. They all are competing for a relatively limited, uh, pool of applicants.  

[00:00:16] James Kellerhouse: So growth for us, um, is a necessity, uh, in higher education. If you're not growing in some way, you're standing still and standing still in the market does not work anymore. 

[00:00:27] Matt Riethmiller: And it's about taking advantage of a market like this. When, when, when there is fear in the market, prices come down and the opportunity is there.  

[00:00:35] Jessica Busch: You've got a whole army behind you.  

[00:00:36] James Kellerhouse: It's important, I mean, to that point, right? It's important that at stake. 

[00:00:45] Jessica Busch: This is the Construction Insiders Podcast. I'm Jessica Busch bringing you the newest trends in strategies in construction essential to anyone in the industry. Welcome to the Construction Insiders Podcast, where we dive deep into the stories, strategies, and innovations [00:01:00] shaping the build environment. I'm your host Jessica Busch, and today we're going to explore how universities are re-imagining the physical footprint during an era of unprecedented change. 

[00:01:11] Jessica Busch: We're joined by an incredible panel who are literally building the future of higher education from Vanderbilt University. We have James Kellerhouse and Matt Riethmiller. Both assistant Vice chancellors over at Vanderbilt, and for a project management perspective, we have RJ Panda Vice President over at Cumming Group who brings invaluable expertise in navigating those complex urban construction challenges. 

[00:01:34] Jessica Busch: As we go through today, we'll unpack Vanderbilt's groundbreaking multi-campus strategy, dive into the complexities of developing a historic campus, and explore how universities are adapting for student changes, needs, and the world we live in today. From regulatory hurdles to designing spaces that bridge that gap of academia and professional life, the conversations are promised to go far [00:02:00] beyond campus walls. 

[00:02:01] Jessica Busch: Let's get started. I would like to take a step back from what Vanderbilt's doing and maybe just start the discussion with general higher education and what's going on currently. So what are, we've talked about this unprecedented era. Era, excuse me. What are some of the biggest challenges that is facing higher education today, and how are institutions like yours and others, how are they adapting these strategies? 

[00:02:28] Jessica Busch: RJ, do you wanna. 

[00:02:29] RJ Panda: Sure. 

[00:02:30] Jessica Busch: Kick it off today.  

[00:02:30] RJ Panda: Sure. Well, it, it definitely is a unique and challenging time. Um, I would say the, the last five years and the, the, the inflationary pressures on cost, uh, have really hit higher ed institutions, uh, uniquely. Uh, and this is happening at the same time that more recently. 

[00:02:47] RJ Panda: There are funding cuts that are affecting both capital and operational budgets. Uh, and they have deferred maintenance and aging infrastructure. Uh, and enrollment is, is being impacted by, uh, [00:03:00] pressures on international students and, and also changing demographics. So it's a really interesting. Time. Um, you know, going into, uh, this period of time and into, into really the, the last few years, uh, it's been an arms race on college campuses. 

[00:03:14] RJ Panda: They all are competing for a relatively limited, uh, pool of applicants that are, uh, that are all looking at all these different institutions across the country and, and trying to make decisions. Uh, so the, the built environment and the unique, um, facilities, the trends that institutions are, are adapting to their campuses are, um. 

[00:03:34] RJ Panda: Are really gonna be fundamental in, in how enrollment and how revenue, how, uh, the student experience has shaped, uh, over the coming years.  

[00:03:42] Jessica Busch: So you mentioned enrollment with the uncertainty in many markets. How are universities balancing expansion? Um, like you guys are headed down and with financial prudence, let's call it. 

[00:03:56] Jessica Busch: So how, how has that balance? Going with major [00:04:00] construction decisions?  

[00:04:01] James Kellerhouse: Yeah, absolutely. And really building off of much of what RJ said. I mean, you can be almost crippled by the headwinds that, you know, we see in higher education. Um, but really, you know, at Vanderbilt, uh, for us, we see them as opportunities. 

[00:04:15] James Kellerhouse: Um, so growth for us, um, is a necessity, uh, in higher education if you're not growing in some way. You're standing still and standing still in the market does not work anymore. Um, so I think what's really important in this space is you have to be strategic. You have to be financially tested. Uh, you have to phase, uh, you have to think about the, um, sort of the gates with which you can develop projects and know that, um, either this is going to work or this is going to be an off ramp, uh, for you and mitigate the risk that you may be. 

[00:04:51] James Kellerhouse: Um. Putting yourself into, you know, as a university, but when it comes to to strategy and growth, it's really about enrollment and market share. [00:05:00] Um, and for Vanderbilt, for us, it's really about the Vanderbilt experience and taking that to the world. And that's, that really connects us to the, the Dare to Grow initiative. 

[00:05:10] Jessica Busch: Okay.  

[00:05:11] Jessica Busch: So getting a little more in the weeds here, Matt. What design elements are becoming essential for a modern campus, if we're talking about really attracting and then retaining those students in 2025 and beyond?  

[00:05:26] Matt Riethmiller: The technologies is, is accelerating at a rate that I don't think anybody can keep up with. 

[00:05:32] Matt Riethmiller: Um, and I think we rely on the academic units, the provost office, the information technology experts to tell us what specific. Um, design strategies or design elements we need to include, and it's gonna be specific to each facility itself. B, but the themes are ageless. The requirements are ageless. M, meaning, we have to create an environment of growth. 

[00:05:59] Matt Riethmiller: We [00:06:00] gotta create an environment of discovery for the student. We gotta create an environment where they can interact with their peers and their professors in that growth and discovery, uh, period of their life. Okay, so? So we need facilities within the builtd environment that enable that growth, without overwhelming it. 

[00:06:18] Matt Riethmiller: So most of what we're going to do on the technology side is going to be subtle. It's going to be in the background. I, it's going to be there, the systems and the a, theaudio visual. It will be there. The technology will be integrated into the facility, but it has to be subtle and in the background> E, especially for a campus like Chelsea that is 150 years old. 

[00:06:34] Matt Riethmiller: You have to respect the history.  

[00:06:36] Jessica Busch: Well, we haven't gotten into that yet, but we will dive into the historic nature for sure. And I can imagine a lot of technology. Um. Carefully put in the right places will be important as we go into that. Um, but you know, you didn't touch on this and I was waiting for you, but James, maybe this is where you take it over that shift. 

[00:06:55] Jessica Busch: We've been hearing so much about that hybrid learning. Um, [00:07:00] has that changed how universities are thinking about physical space planning?  

[00:07:05] James Kellerhouse: You, you know, absolutely it's changed, um, how we think about space. So when we're even looking at this Chelsea campus, although we have this, you know, beautiful 150 year old, uh, historic campus, um, with, with pretty solid walls, uh, what we're thinking about is how can that space be used and evolve over time. 

[00:07:26] James Kellerhouse: So if you think of it, you have to be around, um. Not just what's happening today in education, but where are we going to be in 10 and 20 years? Mm-hmm. Um, Vanderbilt, I will say, um, unlike a lot of universities, believes very strongly about that learning environment. So we, we have not in our undergraduate program. 

[00:07:46] James Kellerhouse: Embraced, uh, hybrid learning as much. Okay. Or online learning. We believe in curating the environments where faculty, staff, students can collaborate. That that learning lab is really the campus [00:08:00] itself learning and that extends far beyond, uh, the walls, but actually even the green spaces on campus. Um, so it's important that we're thinking about the future. 

[00:08:10] James Kellerhouse: We know, uh, that high, you know, higher education will certainly continue to evolve. Um, our graduate programs absolutely embrace, um, hybrid learning. Mm-hmm. And so, uh, we are working on a plan to, you know, make sure the technology in those, um, buildings will support, um, you know, in person online. Certainly more media, you know, as works. 

[00:08:35] James Kellerhouse: We, we are all here today. Yes. Um, but also place-based learning too. So the next phase, and I know we'll get into this, is really about how students. Find themselves in those career industry places of learning where the whole environment, like a New York City is their actual learning lab.  

[00:08:56] Jessica Busch: So more of a traditional mindset when it comes to [00:09:00] undergrad, and then now you're exploring how it incorporate those on the hybrid from post.  

[00:09:05] James Kellerhouse: Yeah. I would say it's, it's traditional, but what we're doing in New York mm-hmm Actually is, is not traditional because what we're doing is we believe in that place that they should be on a campus. Mm-hmm. And have that high engagement with the community. Yep. That we curate. But in New York City. 

[00:09:23] James Kellerhouse: That community becomes millions of people. It becomes industry, uh, not just what happens on that campus. And that's what makes unique  

[00:09:31] Jessica Busch: Environment here  

[00:09:32] James Kellerhouse: This unique for us.  

[00:09:34] Jessica Busch: So can you walk us through the Chancellor's Dare to Grow philosophy and how is that driving this expansion strategy for you guys? 

[00:09:43] James Kellerhouse: Yeah, absolutely. So I, one of the things that really attracted me to Vanderbilt, so I joined, uh, about six months ago. Okay. Been in higher education a long time was really the chancellor's vision that dare to grow mindset. It is embraced by the entire community. And what that's about is about being [00:10:00] bold. 

[00:10:00] James Kellerhouse: Um, it's about being actionable. It's about being entrepreneurial. Um, while at the same time, of course, that doesn't happen in a haphazard way, it's how do you mitigate risk with risk? Everywhere. But how do you embrace bold strategies and also at the same time understand, uh, you know, what, what pitfalls may exist along the way? 

[00:10:22] James Kellerhouse: Um, and with all of that, we have these tenets of, you know, ensuring we're student centered, highly collaborative with one another, which is why you see Matt and I sit in here on this podcast. We work extraordinarily well together, um, on, on these projects, um, that we're not afraid to fail. Um. That means we're also being bold and ambitious and, uh, you know, it's, it's in all that we do. 

[00:10:48] James Kellerhouse: And it's, it's what you see with New York City and New York City is really like a perfect case for that. Um, so we had an opportunity, uh, with stakeholders to identify this incredible [00:11:00] campus. Um, we had the faculty and the staff with, uh, foresight to really think about how to activate what. Vanderbilt will look like in New York City. 

[00:11:12] James Kellerhouse: So, you know, programming, um, you know, uh, lectures, uh, we also are looking at, um, and building out partners in this. So the future of higher education is not siloed. The future is how we work with in industry. Um, and so we're doing that, whether it's providing that  

[00:11:31] Jessica Busch: Off ramp. For your students?  

[00:11:33] James Kellerhouse: Absolutely. 

[00:11:34] James Kellerhouse: Those off ramps for the students where they get hired. And so there's a talent sort of highway in New York that we can plug into, but it's even operationally, uh, we don't need to hire our own security team in New York City. There are great security firms that'll work with us to do that. So third party, um, you know, industry leaders mm-hmm. 

[00:11:53] James Kellerhouse: Uh, to work with us, um, on that. And, uh, that's, that's what makes this work for us too. We can [00:12:00] have. We can have an investment, um, we can think about the mission and we can also think about how we build those relationships, um, and industry partnerships. And what makes Chelsea even a little bit more unique. 

[00:12:16] James Kellerhouse: It has an event venue that, um, allows us to maximize external revenue. Hmm. That's even outside of our mission revenue that we get from tuition. Room and board. So we invest that directly into the student experience. What we can do with external revenue is help mitigate costs that we incur as a result of standing up this incredible campus. 

[00:12:40] James Kellerhouse: And of course, I mean, I don't know how I forgot to say this, but philanthropy is key.  

[00:12:44] Jessica Busch: Yeah.  

[00:12:45] James Kellerhouse: Uh, we've had record breaking, breaking fundraising years. Uh, we just completed a $3.2 billion campaign. We have over a hundred thousand volunteers and donors to Vanderbilt Uhhuh. So they believe in the Dare to Grow mission, the [00:13:00] vision. 

[00:13:00] Jessica Busch: So it's not just you, you got a whole army behind it.  

[00:13:02] James Kellerhouse: It's important, I mean, to that point, right? It's important that stakeholders are critical  

[00:13:07] Jessica Busch: Yeah.  

[00:13:07] James Kellerhouse: To us lifting these, these growth initiatives.  

[00:13:11] Jessica Busch: So what gave Vanderbilt, was it this army behind you? What, what, what gave them so much confidence? When so many universities are contracting or worried about contracting, what gave the confidence for such an expansion? 

[00:13:26] James Kellerhouse: Sure. Um, well, I'll, I'll start for a second. Yeah. And certainly would love to have, uh, Matt, um, chime in Is one is you have decades of great stewardship at Vanderbilt. Mm-hmm. Uh, financial prudence. Yeah. History, um, building, you know, stakeholder engagement. That really lays the foundation for you to take on these bold initiatives. 

[00:13:48] James Kellerhouse: Then you bring in leadership and you bring in the leadership like our chancellor who's bold and who wants to bring and really, uh, push the boundaries of higher education and for [00:14:00] Vanderbilt to lead it so that that leadership is critical. You then bring into it, uh, stakeholders like we've talked about, the stakeholders who believe in that they're investing, um, in that mission as well. 

[00:14:11] James Kellerhouse: And so we have these. These, um, indicators that where we're going is correct because we see that. Um, but then ultimately what's it doing for our students? Right. And so we have, like in New York, we've seen, um, increases in our applications, in our student yield from New York. We also see increases in students wanting to pursue careers in New York. 

[00:14:37] James Kellerhouse: So we have almost 8,000 alumni that live in the metro New York area. Wow. Um. And there are also great indicators of why we have confidence because they're leaders in their industries in the city.  

[00:14:50] Jessica Busch: Yeah.  

[00:14:52] Matt Riethmiller: Yeah. I think, I won't speak for leadership and their decision making, but I think 30 plus years of doing construction in every sector [00:15:00] when you have a period of financial uncertainty. 

[00:15:02] Jessica Busch: Mm-hmm.  

[00:15:03] Matt Riethmiller: It's natural and probably immediate to look at your capital program as a bill, as a bill payerir. For three reasons. Well, a multitude of reasons, but it's certainly very expensive. Um, it creates a lot of disturbance, uh, and you can avoid those as well as any residual risk. There's a residual risk across the construction schedule right up to the end of the project. 

[00:15:25] Matt Riethmiller: We could find something behind a wall or under a ground, um, that destroys the schedule and the budget. So I think that there's risk to it. I think the third thing is construction always falls in a very c. Complex regulatory framework, especially in a place like New York City, especially in a historic district like Chelsea,  

[00:15:43] Jessica Busch: Checking all the boxes there. 

[00:15:44] Matt Riethmiller: Yeah.  

[00:15:47] Matt Riethmiller: So it's tempting, I think, and often it's situationally dependent, but it's tempting to look at the capital program as a place to cut in uncertain times. But for Vanderbilt, dare to Grow is not, uh, it's not a [00:16:00] bumper sticker and it's not being foolhardy. It's about making prudent business decisions. 

[00:16:04] Matt Riethmiller: It's about having the right p. Procurement processes. A about making the right project level planning decisions. Um, and it's about taking advantage of a market like this. Wwhen, when, uh, when there is fear in the market, prices come down. The opportunity is there. Uh, so, um, we like our, we like our timing in New York and we like our opportunity. 

[00:16:26] Jessica Busch: So we have New York in terms of expansion, uh, west Palm Beach, another area for you guys and potentially places like San Francisco. What's the strategic logic behind, behind those locations? Um, I know you mentioned a, a large alumni pool here. Is that. Why across the board for all these locations?  

[00:16:46] James Kellerhouse: Yeah, I mean, these are great questions and I think, um, we, you know, we talk about the nodes of where our alumni are, so these communities, um, that we've graduated students to and where, you know, our families are coming from. 

[00:16:58] James Kellerhouse: We talk about industry. [00:17:00] So when you think about New York, you think about, you know, financial services, the arts, um, you know, civic engagement. When you think about West Palm Beach, you know, it's more FinTech investing. That area's growing like crazy. So you wanna put students where the jobs are, where the opportunities are. 

[00:17:18] James Kellerhouse: Yeah. And so. On the ground too. We also have been fortunate to build a network of folks who are helping us identify those opportunities. It's great to have, uh, someone like a volunteer here in New York who knew. This campus existed. You know, we in Nashville wouldn't have known this, right? She lived across the street. 

[00:17:39] James Kellerhouse: Okay.  

[00:17:39] Jessica Busch: I got a spot for you. Yeah.  

[00:17:40] James Kellerhouse: There's an opportunity similarly in West Palm Beach and we have alumni on the ground who work in the industries and say, wait, there's a, there's an opportunity here. And West Palm has been looking for someone to come in, a university like a Vanderbilt to come in. And this is a great opportunity to do that. 

[00:17:57] James Kellerhouse: So I think it brings all of those together, [00:18:00] um, to identify what are those right. Opportunities. And then we, you know, you, you build a financial model on what works. Yeah. Um, potentially. And then you also make sure that you can mitigate the risk as much as possible. So with a West Palm Beach, you know, we're thinking about how philanthropy is really driving that project. 

[00:18:20] James Kellerhouse: And if we don't hit a certain number, we can reevaluate, is this the right time, is the right place, or do we have to pursue it in a different way?  

[00:18:27] Jessica Busch: And not to go too far from that, but I can imagine other higher education institutions, universities would be curious. How do you frame this to these stakeholders or the lady across the street, you know, from the current campus here? 

[00:18:42] Jessica Busch: How are you framing that? Is it like an investment in the future? Is it responding to needs? How are you getting so many people behind something that could seem risky?  

[00:18:52] James Kellerhouse: Well, I think, uh, it's both, honestly. I think it is, it's future proofing us in a lot of ways. It's being bold, [00:19:00] it's leaning into Dare to Grow. 

[00:19:01] James Kellerhouse: It's doing the things that we've talked about around place-based learning, partnering with industry, being in the right urban environments, uh, for our students and for our faculty. I mean, being in New York City. Takes so much of the research and our faculty leadership and it brings it to a, a big market. 

[00:19:20] James Kellerhouse: Uh, it's not just Nashville, Tennessee focused. It brings it to New York, one of the larger markets, um, in the space. But then we are also reacting to the market in some ways as well. We know. There is a real appetite for what Vanderbilt's doing. We see it in our admission numbers, we see it in philanthropy. 

[00:19:37] James Kellerhouse: And so we can then sort of bring those two together again to take these, uh, to take these bold steps. And so I think for us it's really both. Matt, I don't know if you have any thoughts about that otherwise, but  

[00:19:50] Matt Riethmiller: No, I, I, I think that's correct. You, you, you have to look at what the, um, the specific. You know, these specific environmental opportunities, [00:20:00] I'll say are the architectural opportunities of a given site. 

[00:20:02] Matt Riethmiller: Um, west Palm Beach, New York, other locations are gogoing to nna have very unique, uh, landscaping, uh, very unique architecture. And then how do you create the same Vanderbilt student and researcher experience that same high– level experience in all of those different environments and make it uniquely Vanderbilt.? 

[00:20:21] Matt Riethmiller: Right. Um, I mean, our, our campus in Nashville is not. Um, just ain arboretum, it's, it's, it's a metaphor for discovery and growth, and we have to have that same experience of discovery and growth wherever we are. And so from the builtd environment side, how do we create that but make it geographically specific? 

[00:20:41] Jessica Busch: Yeah.  

[00:20:42] Jessica Busch: Well guys, I don't mean to break up the conversation, but we've heard a lot James, from you about Vanderbilt's overall strategy philosophy, um, for this growth strategy. But when we come back, I would like to dive a little bit more into the weeds, talk about this specific [00:21:00] campus here. Um, in Chelsea, get a little more into the weeds with construction, regulatory issues, all of that. 

[00:21:06] Jessica Busch: Um, the good stuff, uh, from a construction standpoint, right. We love the philosophy. Um, but when we come back, let's, let's get ready to dive a little deeper into, into the whys, um, and the how's. So let's just take a quick pause and, uh, we'll be back with you guys shortly.  

[00:21:21] Brad Ducey: Check back in a few weeks to continue the conversation about higher education with RJ Panda, James Kellerhouse and Matthew Riethmiller. 

[00:21:28] Brad Ducey: And don't forget to subscribe to the Construction Insiders Podcast to get notified when new episodes go live.