The University’s Office of Financial Affairs is giving students and other members of the UA community an opportunity to provide insight and suggestions on how to make campus more effective and student friendly.
Students, faculty and others who wish to participate are invited to contribute through an online survey to the 2012 Master Plan, a blueprint for the construction and improvement of every physical aspect of campus from dormitories and bicycle lanes to parking lots and shrubbery.
“The UA Board of Trustees requires a new master plan, or an update of the current plan, every five years,” University Planner and Designer Dan Wolfe said.
Since the last update in 2007, the University has changed drastically in numerous ways.
“Much has been accomplished since the UA Board of Trustees adopted the 2007 Campus Master Plan Update,” the Financial Affairs website states. “Enrollment has increased significantly, new student housing has been added, classrooms and research facilities have been built and renovated, Foster Auditorium has been restored and additions have been completed to Bryant-Denny Stadium.”
However, unprecedented growth over the past five years in both student enrollment and campus size creates new challenges that must be addressed by an updated Master Plan.
When the Master Plan was last updated in 2007, enrollment stood at 24,933 students, approximately 5,000 less than current levels, according to ua.edu. Additionally, since the 2007 update, the University has enlarged the overall campus size with the acquisition of the 168-acre Bryce Hospital property. To accommodate this growth and plan for even higher levels of enrollment in the future, careful planning and strategic design are needed.
An essential part of putting together an effective Master Plan is finding out what people think about the present campus, what issues people think the University will face over the next five years and which aspects of campus deserve the most attention, the online survey states.
The survey consists mostly of open-ended questions so participants can express how they feel about the issues facing the University and provide suggestions on how to deal with them.
“All comments and survey data received will be considered as the plan is crafted,” Wolfe said. “After the draft plan is formulated this summer we will again go back to the campus community, in the fall, to be sure we have heard correctly and responded accordingly.”
Individual ideas for improving the campus may be submitted directly to Wolfe through a link on the Office of Financial Affairs website.
“I will personally review all comments and make sure they are sent to our consultants for their review and consideration,” he said.
After all ideas have been heard and the new Master Plan is complete, it will be available online so those interested can review, comment on and provide further feedback about it, he said.
In spite of budget cuts and some loss of funding, the 2012 Master Plan will not reflect smaller scale plans for the UA campus.
“We will not scale back the Master Plan because of the economy,” Wolfe said. “However, it may take a little longer to implement all aspects of the plan if the economy does not rebound as quickly as expected.”
Students may participate in the survey by visiting uafacilities.ua.edu and clicking the Campus Master Plan link.
