Updating the Academic Structure and Facilities Master Plan
IUP’s ongoing work to meet the changing needs of students and to ensure a sustainable future has involved intense planning over the last two years.
Working with international planning and design firm SmithGroup, the university completed a revision to its Long-Range Facilities Master Plan, which will guide the campus’s physical development over the next 20 years. One of its main influences was yet another major planning project—a review and restructuring of IUP’s academic programs, departments, and colleges. The new academic structure took effect in July.
Both planning processes incorporated open sessions and other means of collecting input from students and faculty and staff members. The facilities master plan also considered feedback from the Greater Indiana community.
The suggested location for the proposed college of osteopathic medicine (Johnson Hall) and for other health-related programs (Stright and Uhler halls) are to the right of Oakland Avenue. Weyandt Hall, with demolition under way, and Wilson, Kopchick, and McElhaney halls are to the left of the Oak Grove. (Photo: Brian Henry)
Provost Lara Luetkehans, who led the academic review and restructuring, said the goals were twofold: to bring departments and programs together in a more interdisciplinary, student-centered way and to focus on a narrower set of relevant and in-demand programs.
“Simply put,” she said, “the university’s structure must evolve with the needs and demands of our students and demands of the workforce.”
The analyses helped identify programs that could be consolidated, modified, or eliminated, as well as programs with potential for growth. One outcome was the creation of the College of Health Sciences, which includes the departments of Allied and Public Health, Nursing, and Psychology. The new college will also have close ties to the proposed college of osteopathic medicine, expected to welcome its first students in 2027.
The other academic colleges, some of which have been reconfigured, are the College of Arts, Humanities, Media, and Public Affairs; College of Education and Human Services; Eberly College of Business; and Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The University College, which complements them by providing resources and services to promote student success, also now houses the Student Affairs in Higher Education master’s program. Department configurations can be found at IUP Academic Program Review and Restructuring.
While the new structure groups areas that could potentially share resources, talent, and expertise, the facilities master plan aims to bring those related areas together physically to facilitate cross-departmental opportunities that will enhance academics.
View of the Oak Grove from a point near the Stapleton Library main entrance
For example, the plan proposes centralizing health-related programs in campus facilities north of Oakland Avenue—specifically, renovating and enlarging Johnson Hall to serve as the primary building for the proposed medical college and refurbishing Uhler and Stright halls to house the College of Health Sciences. A feasibility study for that project is planned. Overall, the plan suggests renovations to 20 facilities to accommodate strategic academic moves.
Additional goals and themes of the plan are as follows:
- Improving the student experience by centralizing admissions and other student services in Clark Hall and creating a welcome plaza nearby for visitors coming to campus from the Grant Street parking garage.
- Providing safer pedestrian routes and more green space. Throughout the planning process, students said they wanted more open space. The plan proposes extending the Oak Grove to the north and east in the locations of Weyandt, Elkin, and Pratt halls. It also suggests using the steep terrain of the former Foster Dining Hall site to create an amphitheater and adding lawn space at the sites of Davis and Ackerman halls.
- Improving facilities for housing, dining, student organizations, recreation, and athletics.
- Creating welcoming campus edges and exploring partnerships and engagement opportunities.
- Reducing the campus’s footprint for a more efficient use of space. The analyses showed that enrollment declines over the last decade have left many campus buildings underutilized.
While the razing of Weyandt, Pratt, and Eicher halls, University Towers, Reschini House, and the R&P Building is nearing completion, the plan identifies four more buildings (Ackerman, Davis, Elkin, and Whitmyre) to consider for demolition to rightsize the campus. However, steering committee cochairs Debra Fitzsimons, vice president for Administration and Finance, and Provost Lara Luetkehans emphasize that analysis and discussion will continue, and no decisions have been made.
“Identifying possibilities—including associated costs and impact—and bringing this information forward are an important part of the planning process,” Fitzsimons said.
The report is available at Long-Range Facilities Master Plan Update.