About Jim Banning
James H. Banning, Ph.D. is a professor in the School of Education at Colorado State University. Dr. Banning teaches qualitative research courses, campus ecology, and for the Department of Psychology at CSU he teaches environmental psychology. Dr. Banning received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado-Boulder in 1965 in the field of clinical psychology. He worked several years as a psychotherapist and as a university administrator (Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at the University of Missouri and Vice President for Student Affairs at Colorado State University). In each of these settings, Dr. Banning became interested in the role of the environment and the impact it had upon human behavior and how to assess these ecological conditions from a qualitative research methodology.
In 1973, Banning began the initial work to create a field of study known as campus ecology. Campus ecology is the study of the interrelationships between people and the college and university environment. Banning’s current work focuses on how physical features of this environment (buildings, signs, and symbols) communicate to the inhabitants of the environment. He also served as the editor of the national newsletter The Campus Ecologist for a number of years and is a member of the Environmental Design Research Association and the American College Personnel Association. In addition to his editorial work, Dr. Banning has authored books, book chapters, and numerous journal articles on the environment and its impact on behavior. His most recent book, Education by Design: Creating Campus Environments that Work, focuses on the college and university environments. It addition to his focus on campus environments, Dr. Banning is also involved in qualitative meta-analysis and currently working on grant as the qualitative analyst for a synthesis project regarding youth with disabilities in educational settings.
Dr. Banning is frequently called upon as a consultant in educational
settings to discuss the topics of physical environments, ethical communities,
institutional racism and sexism and qualitative meta-analysis.