Changing the Concept of Community Design
February 29, 2008 | 
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Robert Wonnett, UCCS Vice-Chancellor for Student Success, has always been intrigued with how people view themselves within "their space" and how they interact with each other in the physical space they inhabit.
"How people come together in units, create social spaces, integrate, and sometimes deny access to each other" has everything to do with whether people succeed or fail, Wonnett began. His passion is facilitating proper use of space on a variety of levels in order to foster community success; his career paths to further understand this passion have taken many unique turns.
Robert Wonnett’s life as a son in a military family has much to do with his passion for investigating how people interact. In his earliest years he came to appreciate how the military lifestyle provided for a progressive approach to community access, outreach, social change and promoting social interaction with the communities in which he lived. His father’s tours in Washinton, Alabama, West Virginia, Virginia, and Germany, with a last tour in Colorado Springs, provided Robert with much "neat stuff" to ponder about how people come together, integrate, and manipulate their environment.
Of particular interest was his discovery that people in the military view community much differently than those who remain stationary as community. When his dad’s work took him to Virginia, Robert was asked, "Who are your people?" He discovered that his definition of people differed greatly from theirs. Theirs focused on blood connections; his was more expansive. Despite the differences in interpretation, he realized that social barriers are mostly man made.
Wonnett admits to a tendency to "work himself out of a job" but always in an upward spiral. His initial experience as a recreation therapist introduced him to youth who required sports therapy to address their physical challenges. Afterwards, he served as a police officer and parole officer in Denver, working with at-risk populations. For Wonnett, appropriate tools for his work necessitate developing more skills, and he did.
He acquired an MA degree in guidance and counseling, thereby allowing him entry into "Interstate Compact", a program that focuses upon self-improvement strategies for post-incarceration populations.
Wonnett, no stranger to personal academic development, entered law school in 1991, and earned a Juris Doctor degree in 2005, a four-year commute from Colorado Springs to Denver. It was at this point that he "saw the space changing" both in his academic and professional focus. He came to terms with what he wanted to create.
"What are the broader behaviors with younger students? How can the physical, social, and organizational characteristics of a college or university affect success for students? How do the spaces we create as institutions of higher learning, or any institutions for that matter insulate and isolate us? That is my bottom line."
Robert Wonnett cares deeply about creating an environment in which students, faculty, staff, and administration can become their best selves. His daily schedule is filled with activities that study students’ short-term behaviors and difficulties within the university system. However, his ongoing determination to interface exterior space concerns with academic and sociocultural priorities has led him to work on his doctorate: how physical space can be best utilized to improve the academic community.
We have no doubt that this architecture cum sociocultural investigation will work Robert Wonnett out of his present job and allow him entry into one that keeps his passion alive. Colorado Springs Record+ looks forward to sharing those results with our readers.
- M
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