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Fellow Bears,
I am writing to share an update on UNC’s new facilities comprehensive plan and invite
you to join me and other university leaders for an informal, small-group discussion
to learn more about what UNC might look like in the future.
Facilities Comprehensive Plan
Monday, March 4, 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Centennial Hall
Please register here.
The UNC Board of Trustees last Friday approved the university’s new ten-year Facilities Comprehensive Plan, which includes ideas such as the campus paseo shown in the header designed to connect
people and places. This action was the culmination of 18 months of work beginning
with a project launch in August 2022. While this is an important milestone, the work
ahead of us now is to use the plan as a framework to guide the near and long-term
physical development of our campus in alignment with our Rowing, Not Drifting 2030 strategic plan.
UNC has a history of planning that is integrated with our academic and programmatic
needs, and we have submitted each year to the Colorado Department of Higher Education
our priorities for state-funded capital construction. However, our capital planning process has
progressed beyond the relevance of the last facilities plan that was completed in
2003. When we launched our university strategic plan in 2020, it was clear we needed
to also update our approach to managing and developing our physical assets to help
us realize our vision for the future.
In 2022, we retained SmithGroup as our partner in the campus planning process. Over the course of a year, a planning team engaged in a process to understand the current campus by conducting
a comprehensive assessment of its layout, infrastructure, facilities, and the needs
of the university community. The team then conducted workshops, surveys, and collaborative
discussions with hundreds of students, faculty, and staff. Participants were asked
what they think will make our campus even more dynamic, connected, usable, and beautiful,
and their feedback was used to help create a shared vision for the future of our physical
spaces and landscape. Finally, the planning team worked to develop an actionable plan
through an iterative process of sharing ideas with and receiving feedback from stakeholders,
a project steering committee, and leadership groups, including my Cabinet and the
Board of Trustees. Many of those presentations can be found here.
While the result of this multiphase effort is a facilities comprehensive plan, the
benefit is not the document itself but the roadmap it provides now and for many years
to come. A well-designed plan like ours includes specific recommendations for projects
we can and will prioritize and also serves as a flexible guide that will adapt and
evolve to meet the changing needs of UNC into the future.
What remains unchanging is the shared set of guiding principles developed following
stakeholder input to inform our decisions about capital improvement and development
investments. Our six guiding principles are: promote a Students First plan, enhance
learning environments, connect campus, promote a resilient and sustainable campus,
strengthen campus identity, and right-size the campus. The facilities comprehensive
plan draws on these principles and presents a Future Framework composed of elements
pertaining to facilities, open space, student life, and sustainability along with
a set of recommended projects for consideration, which are summarized here.
For example, we are already envisioning what the campus will look like once a facility
is constructed to support the proposed osteopathic medical college, how design features can be enhanced to help connect all parts of campus and create
places for people to gather, and where we have opportunities to further implement
sustainable practices. In addition, UNC’s plan for the future of our campus will also
continue to enhance our connection and collaboration with the surrounding community.
The Board of Trustees also on Friday approved an easement agreement with the City of Greeley, which formalizes our shared commitment to revitalizing
the 16thStreet corridor that runs along the north side of campus. These are just some of the
examples of how our plan is already informing decisions about UNC’s physical campus
and landscape.
There is a lot to be excited about as we continue integrating the new facilities comprehensive
plan with all we are doing to envision the future of UNC. We have a vibrant university
community, and it is fitting that we work together to nurture physical spaces to match.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the development of the plan. I hope you will
join me in embracing this shared vision for the future of our campus.
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