A special session for members of the community to provide input on Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s long-range facilities master plan update is scheduled for June 13 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex PNC Room.

This session is part of the university’s long-range facilities master plan update process, which has included presentations and meetings with students and employees during the spring semester.

Community input is an important part of the process, Long-Range Facilities Master Plan Update Executive Steering Committee cochairs Debra Fitzsimons, vice president, Division of Administration and Finance; and Lara Luetkehans, provost and vice president, Division of Academic Affairs, said.

A long-range facilities master plan is designed to engage all constituencies, including leadership, decision makers, students, the campus, and surrounding communities in identifying and prioritizing campus improvements. 

IUP ArchThe long-range facilities master plan and the updating process are critically important to making decisions about the physical development of the Indiana campus, the cochairs said.

The master plan update includes a careful examination of how IUP is using its current space in order to create recommendations for the future of the Indiana campus facility footprint, so input about current facility usage is essential. The more information gathered, the more accurate and representative the master plan will be of the present and vision for the future, the cochairs said.

IUP has contracted with SmithGroup (formerly JJR) to assist in the planning process and to develop a comprehensive proposal for updating the facilities master plan, concentrating on improving the student experience. The long-range facilities master plan is intended to link the University Strategic Plan to the long-range physical development of the IUP campus over the next 20 years.

The SmithGroup, which has completed planning projects at more than 700 college campuses worldwide over the last four decades, developed IUP’s current Long-Range Master Plan in 2011 and updates to the plan in 2014 and 2017. 

The current update process will produce the five-year update for this comprehensive 20-year plan. The university's objective is to develop an all-encompassing road map for future development that will inform and guide facilities-based decision making for the next 20 years.

It is anticipated that the SmithGroup will present the completed long-range facilities master plan update recommendations to the IUP Council of Trustees in December.

The June 13 session is open to all, but preregistration is requested in order to make appropriate arrangements. Information on how to register for the session, as well as information on IUP’s long-range facilities master plan, is on the IUP website at Long-Range Facilities Master Plan (or type in “master plan” at the search box at the top of the IUP website at iup.edu).

Persons with questions about registering for the June 13 session can contact Edie Bash at 724-357-2202 or eabash@iup.edu or Mandi Custer at 724-357-2289 or mandi.custer@iup.edu.