Community Open Session
- September 26
- 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
- Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex’s PNC Room
Community Open Session is September 26
A special session for members of the community to provide additional input on Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s long-range facilities master plan update is scheduled for September 26 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex’s PNC Room.
This session will include the presentation of two “campus of the future” scenarios, built from the open forums, meetings, and discussions held in June.
The Sept. 26 session is open to all community members; reservations are not required, and it is not required for people attending this session to have attended the June open session.
The Long-Range Facilities Master Plan Update Executive Steering Committee cochairs are Debra Fitzsimons, vice president, Division of Administration and Finance; and Lara Luetkehans, provost and vice president, Division of Academic Affairs.
“The input we received during the spring open sessions with the community and with our students and employees provided very important insights, and we want to thank everyone who participated in the June sessions,” Fitzsimons and Luetkehans said.
“The presentation planned for the September 26 session is the next step in the process, and reflects the great feedback provided to the consultants in June,” they said.
“The long-range facilities master plan and the updating process are critically important to making decisions about the physical development of the Indiana campus, and everyone’s voice is important.
“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,” they said. “We really want to hear from as many people as possible.”
The SmithGroup (formerly JJR) is assisting IUP in the planning process and long-range facilities master plan update. Members of the SmithGroup will present two scenarios for the campus of the future at the September open forum.
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, concentrating on the student experience.
The 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 long-range facilities master plan will be of the present and vision for the future, Fitzsimons and Luetkehans said.
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 facilities 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.
Information on IUP’s long-range facilities master plan is on the IUP Master Plan Update website (or type “master plan” in the search box at the top of the IUP website at iup.edu).