The Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana Campus Long-Range Facilities Master Plan Update is available on the IUP website; it can also be accessed by typing in Long Range Master Plan in the IUP website search box.
This update, presented during four open sessions for students, employees, and community members on April 2, includes comments from the April 2 open sessions.
“Developed with the University’s Strategic Plan at its center, IUP’s Indiana Campus Long-Range Facilities Master Plan is deliberately dynamic and fluid, while absolutely focused on meeting the changing needs of our students,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said.
“Throughout its 15-year development, our plan continues to reflect extensive data collection and analysis, careful thinking about our academic goals and enrollment projections, and discussions that have engaged IUP’s students, faculty, and staff members, as well as community leadership in identifying and prioritizing campus physical improvements,” he said.
The updated plan will be reviewed by the IUP Council of Trustees at its May 9 meeting. This review follows the January approval by the Council of Trustees of the goals and themes for the update.
The Indiana Campus Long-Range Facilities Master Plan links the University’s Strategic Plan to the long-range physical development of the IUP campus over the next 20 year. The update was developed by the SmithGroup (formerly JJR), nationally known campus facility planners.
The university engaged the firm in November 2009 to prepare a comprehensive, long-range (20-year) facilities master plan for the university. In December 2010, the Council of Trustees adopted the plan as the official facilities planning document for the university. This was the beginning of the planning implementation process, which continues to include updates to the plan to reflect changing needs of the university.
Updates to the original 2010 plan were approved by the Council of Trustees in 2011, 2014, 2017 and in January. The process for developing recommendations for each update included open sessions and extensive discussion with students, employees, university leadership groups, and community members and community leadership groups. Presentations offered during the open sessions are posted on the IUP website.
The most recent update is the result of a collaborative 10-month process involving close to 2,000 people – employees, staff, students, alumni, and members of the Indiana area community.
“This work has been inclusive and transparent; since its very beginning, the involvement and consultation of our stakeholders has been central to updating our plan,” IUP President Driscoll said. “The community has been fully engaged, and the comments, questions, and thoughtful suggestions have been critically important in the development of this update,” he said.
President Driscoll and Long-Range Facilities Master Plan Update Executive Steering Committee co-chairs Debra Fitzsimons, vice president, Division of Administration and Finance; and Lara Luetkehans, provost and vice president, Division of Academic Affairs, all expressed their appreciation for the thoughtful comments and suggestions from members of the community.
“The input we received during our open sessions and through the online surveys provided very important insights, and we join President Driscoll in thanking everyone who participated in these sessions,” Fitzsimons and Luetkehans said.
The Indiana Campus Long-Range Facilities Master Plan includes three phased development programs: zero to five years, six to 10 years, and 11 to 20 years, each with a time, cost opinion, and funding possibility and availability.
“Any actions related to recommendations in the plan will be reviewed by the Council of Trustees and information will be shared with the IUP and Indiana area communities before moving forward,” Fitzsimons stressed.
The updates to the Indiana Campus Long-Range Facilities Master Plan approved in January by the Council of Trustees include the following goals and themes:
- IUP’s Academic Future—To enrich the academic environment through strategic programming moves and building renovations and to plan for a college of osteopathic medicine.
- Reducing the Campus Footprint—To identify opportunities to increase efficiency and optimal utilization of existing space across campus.
- Campus Community—To improve facilities for housing, dining, student organizations, recreation, and athletics.
- Moving Around Campus—To provide safe pedestrian routes and a green space network across campus.
- Student Success and Well-Being—To elevate the student experience by creating a one-stop precinct for a student welcome center and for admissions, student success, and life design facilities.
- Campus and the Borough—To create welcoming campus edges and to explore partnerships and alumni and donor engagement opportunities.
In addition to the goals and themes approved by the Council of Trustees, the update includes key “campus visions” designed to meet the goals and themes, focusing on promoting shared use of resources and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration:
- Create a prominent and interconnected physical space to house the health sciences academic cluster (College of Health Sciences) in proximity to the proposed college of osteopathic medicine north of Oakland Avenue in renovated Johnson, Uhler, and Stright halls;
- Create a one-stop precinct for student success with a renovation of Crimson Café, Clark Hall, and Stapleton and Stabley Libraries;
- Create a new “campus front door” highlighting the extended Oak Grove, the proposed college of osteopathic medicine building and health cluster, including an improved connection to downtown;
- Create a new active green space (West Lawn) at the site of Foster and Davis halls and more green space and recreational areas on campus.
The revisions for the master plan approved by the Council of Trustees in January were developed over a 10-month period that included discussions with members of the IUP and Indiana area communities; an electronic “Map My IUP” survey, which drew responses from 1,158 people, including almost 500 members of the Indiana area community; more than 100 participants in pop-up sessions; an open session hosted by the Student Government Association and the Graduate Student Assembly; and robust attendance and discussion at the eight open sessions for students, faculty and staff and the Indiana area community. Members of the SmithGroup also held 24 interviews with more than 100 individuals.