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Reliable and resilient utility systems are foundational to a university's ability to support teaching, research, healthcare, student life, and future campus growth. This encore presentation from the SCUP Southern regional conference will explore how Vanderbilt integrated multiple planning efforts into a unified infrastructure initiative focused on resilient, reliable, and future-ready utility systems. The program is anchored by a next-generation energy plant designed to enhance system redundancy, increase operational flexibility, and support long-term campus growth, alongside the transformation of a multi-modal corridor.

Attendees will see how technical and planning decisions were translated into outcomes that resonated with leadership, including enhanced resilience, increased utility capacity, and strengthened campus spaces. The session highlights strategies to navigate cost escalation, construction disruption, and stakeholder alignment while maintaining long-term institutional value. Attendees will leave with a repeatable approach to framing and advancing complex infrastructure initiatives that position campuses for future growth and evolving operational needs.

Learning Outcomes

1. Develop a framework to align utilities, water management, campus planning, and infrastructure investments into a unified program.
2. Translate technical infrastructure investments into outcomes meaningful to leadership, including resilience, redundancy, capacity growth, operational reliability, and campus experience.
3. Build leadership support while managing cost escalation, scope growth, and disruption across a multi-year infrastructure initiative.
4. Apply strategies to deliver infrastructure projects that strengthen campus resilience, improve system reliability, support future growth, enhance campus experience, and remain adaptable to emerging technologies and changing institutional needs.

About The Spotlight Series > The Spotlight Series: Regional Perspectives is a curated collection of some of SCUP’s recent annual and regional conference sessions, providing insights from across the country. Across eight live, interactive sessions, attendees will hear directly from campus leaders, architects, planners, and changemakers from across the country who are shaping the future of higher education.