Campi

[Victor Steinbok]

Some musings on "campus". Feel free to ignore if it seems unhelpful.

Apple and Google had campuses for as long as I can recall. Adobe and
Microsoft might have had them for a while, but I don't think they had
them from the beginning. I do not recall anyone ever referring to DEC
(Digital, now EMC2 location), IBM or HP "campuses", although they did
have sprawling local complexes in multiple locations. Middle schools and
high school in California were referring to campuses back when I was in
California, so it would have been 1990-92. Most of Apple and Google is
in California and they started in California. The rest have presence in
California, but they did not start out in California. DEC, of course, no
longer exists.

> orig. /U.S./ The grounds of a college or university; the open space
> between or around the buildings; a separate part of a university.
> Hence allusively, university or college life or people. Also /attrib./

I can think of several distinct but related meanings here.

1) The physical grounds. That is, there is a hard line drawn around the
campus buildings, parking lots, alleys, green open spaces. Anything
inside that line is "campus". Anything outside that line is
"off-campus". (OED: "The grounds of a college or university") This is a
pretty clear distinction. But there is a caveat--if an "independent
living group" is physically surrounded by campus buildings, does it
qualify as "on-campus" or "off-campus"? For example, two MIT
fraternities are physically adjoined to campus buildings and drive-up
access to them is along streets that have officially been ceded to MIT
by Cambridge (see below). By all geographic accounts, the two are "on
campus". However, because they are not a part of the official university
system and are run by independent organizations, their residents are
considered living "off-campus". On the other hand, one dorm is
distinctly outside the confines of the physical campus. Of course, its
residents are living "on campus". Boston University has a similar issue
with some of their living groups, although BU campus is much harder do
define.

2) The physical grounds as above, but only between the buildings. (OED:
"the open space between or around the buildings") This is a bit
complicated. Parts of some streets confined between campus buildings
often belong to universities--the issue is not just ownership, but
maintenance, parking regulations and revenue, etc. So, MIT made a deal
with Cambridge, through which Cambridge ceded parts of several streets
that are completely surrounded by MIT buildings to MIT in exchange for
another consideration that is not important. MIT immediately put up its
own parking signs and traffic signs, to distinguish them from Cambridge
streets. In contrast, Boston University and Yale campuses are completely
criss-crossed by city streets with no such arrangements. The parking
meters belong to the respective cities and they patrol and maintain them
(although off-street activity is patrolled by campus cops who are also
deputized as city police, but are not formally a part of the city
force). By definition (1) above, the streets are clearly a part of the
campus. By definition (2), this is less clear.

3) Separate geographic locations united by a single administrative
controlling body. Thus a university may have a separate Law School
campus (Boston College) and a Medical School campus (Tufts). The
distinction here is that the different campuses are completely distinct,
disjoint bodies. They may share a portion of the boundary, but are
generally known as being separate bodies. Contrast this with University
of Massachusetts or University of California, each of which has a
separate medical school that is under separate administration from other
parts of UMass or UC. It is not entirely clear whether one would refer
to these as campuses of the respective system. Are Riverside, Irvina, SF
and Berkeley different "campuses" or are they different universities? No
such blurred lines exist in Ohio, where there is a single state
Univeristy System, but each school is defined as a separate university.
Thus Kent State, Miami University, Cleveland State, Wright State, etc.,
are all separate universities, although Wiki uses "campus" more broadly
here:

> The system includes all of Ohio's public institutions of higher
> education: 14 four-year state universities, 24 branch and regional
> campuses, 23 two-year community colleges and technical colleges, and
> one public medical college, as well as Adult Workforce Education (AWE)
> and Adult Basic and Literacy Education (ABLE) programs.

4) Joined, but physically distinct parts of the same university. Thus
Harvard may have a law school campus, business school campus, ed school
campus and divinity school campus (there may be more for other major
components, but I'll just stick to these four). Of these, only the
Business school has a distinct physical location that is not in close
proximity to the Harvard Yard. The other three are nearly continuous
geographic extensions of the "main campus". When someone refers to
"campus" they almost never imply any of these parts, but to the integral
whole (excluding med school and, sometimes, business school). But each
school's administration often refers to its own "campus" in official
correspondence, speeches, addresses, etc.

Both (3) and (4) may be included under OED's "a separate part of a
university". That is, it could be a clearly identifiable component
(part) of the university (4) or it could be a unit that stands apart
from the university (3).

With primary and secondary schools, the distinction between these four
may be less important. Generally, the school grounds are the
campus--this might have started with private high schools that were
modeled on colleges, but then spread to other schools, including public.
But if a town comprises a single district and runs all the schools
centrally, you may hear references to "high-school campus" and
"middle-school campus" or the like, which are closer to (3) or (4). In
fact, in some towns the high school and the middle school have adjoining
buildings with other shared facilities, so the distinction would clearly
follow pattern (4). What we don't get with either schools or companies
is (2). This seems to be reserved for the college/university scene.
There is one exception--government institutions, such as federal
agencies (e.g., NIH, NSF) that refer to their sprawling complexes,
including various parking structures and green spaces, as "campus"
(e.g., Foggy Bottom is a campus, Pentagon and its surrounding facilities
is a campus). The same also applies to hospitals and other medical
facilities (not necessarily affiliated with universities), but not to
residential facilities, such as retirement or rehabilitation facilities.
The latter only refer to "campus" in sense (1) and (3), not (2) and (4).


There are some other possible extensions. First, there are a lot of
online companies that sell classes or training services and incorporate
"campus" into their names to signify an educational institution. The
meaning may or may not be used more generally--company and project names
obviously don't make for a language shift. On the other hand, many of
the services targeted at either students or college administration
incorporate "campus" as an attributive, but sometimes it means,
specifically, "for students" rather than merely "for a college campus".
Again, most uses involve either trademarks or mere attributive usage,
but a few slip by.

Examples (in no particular order):

Google has a Campus project. There is a similar project in Cambridge,
MA, but it's not related to Google and is not called "Campus".

http://goo.gl/LOs60
> Campus, powered by Google, offers seven floors of flexible work
> spaces, free high speed internet and all the support you need to fuel
> your ideas. We'll be hosting mentoring programmes, speaker series,
> networking events and much much more. So if you're a London-based
> startup or are just passing through town, we invite you to join the
> Campus community.


Apple has a Campus 2 project for redesigning its current HQ location.
But the word "campus" is deeply embedded at Apple, not just the name of
the project.

http://goo.gl/4FEMb
> Apple Inc. has submitted a development proposal to replace existing
> office and research buildings to create its new Apple Campus 2. Most
> of the 175 acre area is located on the former Hewlett Packard (HP)
> campus and is bounded by I-280 to the south, Wolfe Road to the west,
> Homestead Road to the north and North Tantau Avenue to the east.

http://goo.gl/r3J0Q
> Though the Cupertino City Council appears poised to approve whatever
> plans Apple puts forward for its new "spaceship" campus, Apple has
> prepared a brochure for its neighbors that outlines what's in store.


http://goo.gl/1rN0N
[BEG==Bombay Engineering Group]
> Expressing concern over possible flooding at BEG campus, the Pune
> Municipal Corporation (PMC) wrote to the Kirkee Cantonment Board
> (KCB), seeking permission to take up nullah channelising work.
> ...
> In a letter, city engineer Prashant Waghmare said, "It is observed
> that the natural water stream carrying storm water has been tampered
> with in the BEG campus along Alandi road during the construction of
> MAP buildings. ..."

http://goo.gl/5ISUg
> Campus Images
> Redmond Campus Buildings
[Google search preview: "Images of Microsoft's main campus in Redmond,
Wash., company logo and outdoor signage."]

A generic facility for a particular purpose:

http://goo.gl/liZgi
> The Premier Sports Campus, with Celebration-seeded grass on 22 fields,
> and more than 140 acres, can support a variety of field-related
> events. The field irrigation allows for efficient water drainage,
> which provides for better time-out weather management.
> The campus is available to host soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, rugby,
> archery, senior games, Ultimate Frisbee, Special Olympics, flag
> football, youth football, Frisbee golf and punt/pass/kick football on
> local, state, regional and national levels.

http://goo.gl/wxVqN
Walking Mountains Science Center
> Located in Avon (find driving directions here), our five-acre site,
> which boasts access to the Buck Creek, wetland areas, a spring-fed
> pond, aspen forests and National Forest, was donated by the Tang
> family in 2007 to provide our community with a place for learning and
> discovery. We have recently opened the doors to this exciting new
> facility and hope you'll stop in for a visit soon.
> ...
> The campus itself will teach and inspire.
> ...
> The heart of our campus, featuring interactive exhibits about our
> mountain ecology, a larger than life beaver lodge, administrative
> offices and conference facilities.
> ...

Wiki: Auralia Campus
> Auraria Campus is an educational facility located near downtown
> Denver, Colorado in the United States. The campus houses facilities of
> three separate universities and colleges: the University of Colorado
> Denver (UCD), Community College of Denver, and Metropolitan State
> College of Denver. The campus also houses Auraria Higher Education
> Center, the administrative body that handles parking, maintenance, and
> janitorial services. The campus is located southwest of downtown, on
> the east side of the South Platte River and south of Cherry Creek,
> near the site of the original Auraria mining camp settlement of 1859.

"Campus" is often used in trademarks to either identify services
intended for students/universities (e.g., Campus Cuisine) or to
represent an on-line educational service.

http://goo.gl/TpH10
> Welcome to the ICC Campus Online! Please take a moment to browse our
> catalog. Here you can read more about our many certification
> examination practice courses and other online training on a variety of
> topics.

http://goo.gl/t4EUM
Infinite Campus Mobile Portal
> Access your (or your child's) schedule, grades, assignments and
> attendance data using the Infinite Campus Mobile Portal! This
> universal app gives students and parents the same instant access to
> their data using an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

http://goo.gl/up6lt
> You can combine a class from Giant Campus with your class schedule at
> your current school. Check out our catalog of online classes!


http://goo.gl/bclwd
Buffalo Retirement Community
> You’ll find thoughtfully designed residences and programs at our
> Buffalo-area retirement community including a variety of independent
> living apartment floor plans, assisted living, personal and skilled
> nursing services, and much more. Learn more about all the Weinberg
> Campus senior services.

http://goo.gl/GFQgg
> WakeMed Raleigh Campus is Wake County's first certified Primary Stroke
> Center, Neuro Intensive Care Unit, Pediatric Inpatient Unit, Pediatric
> Intensive Care Unit, Level IV Intensive Care Unit, and Level I Trauma
> Center.

http://goo.gl/71r6o
Museum Campus
> On the lakefront just south of the Loop are three of the world’s
> finest museums: the Field Museum of Natural History, Shedd Aquarium
> and Adler Planetarium, in an area known as the Museum Campus. With
> enough hands-on activities and exhibitions for a week’s worth of
> discovery, the Museum Campus is an opportunity for visitors of all
> ages to explore the natural world up-close. Highlights include ‘Sue’,
> the world’s largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever
> found, at the Field Museum; face-to-face encounters with sharks and
> other awesome creatures of the deep at the Shedd Aquarium; and a
> popular Sky Show and other interactive exhibits that bring outer space
> close enough to touch at the Adler Planetarium.
>
> The Museum Campus is also home to another famous tenant, Soldier
> Field, the iconic home of the Chicago Bears football team, and the
> oldest active stadium in the National Football League. Soldier Field
> also happens to be an award-winning green roof, with all 9 acres of
> the stadium and its landscaped surroundings built atop more than 2,500
> parking spaces in an underground garage.

http://goo.gl/woSjb
Swedish Medical Center Seattle: Issaquah Campus
> See the new hospital campus, and learn about its energy efficiency
> features and other green elements in this video
[Google Search Preview: "Giant Campus of Washington is a free online
online high school for Washington State students pursuing for-credit
courses in technology, digital arts, engineering"]

NIH [PDF file]
http://goo.gl/j6D92
> NIH Employee Map · NIH Visitor Map · Gateway Center Map · Campus
> Evacuation Map · Campus Accessibility Maps · Assisted Parking ·
> Parking FAQs

http://goo.gl/eeb9q
> The 300-acre Kamehameha Schools Hawai`i campus is located in Kea`au,
> eight miles south of Hilo in a remote, heavily forested and beautiful
> area. Founded in 1996, the school currently enrolls 1,120 K-12
> students. The curriculum is directed towards preparing students for
> success in post-high school endeavors and a rewarding and productive
> life.

In case you're wondering why a Hawaii school has a Hawaii campus, it's
because the name refers to the island, not to the state.

[Wiki]
> Kamehameha Schools (KS), formerly called Kamehameha Schools/Bishop
> Estate (KSBE), is a private co-educational college-preparatory
> institution that specializes in Native Hawaiian language and cultural
> education. It is located in Hawaiʻi and operates three campuses:
> Kapālama (Oʻahu), Pukalani (Maui), and Keaʻau (Hawaiʻi island).

VS-)

On 5/28/2012 3:50 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> CNN today: "Not AOL headquarters but one of the campuses of AOL."
>
> JL
>
> On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 11:05 PM, Joel S. Berson<Berson at att.net>  wrote:
>
> At 5/3/2012 07:53 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>> BTW, I hear "campus" used more and more (and more) as the preferred term
>>> for areal "grounds" of any kind, particularly those related to prisons,
>>> hospitals, and office buildings. Not in OED.
>>>
>>> There was a time when it sounded odd to me even when applied to high-school grounds. It got odder when it hit the elementary schools.
>> My elementary school campus was more like a (prison-)yard.  (My high
>> school, on the other hand, had a campus that included a -- if you'll
>> permit me -- quadrangle bordered on three sides by school buildings.
>>
>> Joel

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