“*We are an exceedingly compressed campus.*”
UWM Chancellor Carlos Santiago

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago highlighted the reasons behind the compilation of a university Master Plan at a launch event held last Friday in the Wisconsin room of the Union.

He said, “we are an exceedingly compressed campus,” citing that whereas Madison has 42 students per acre and UW-Parkside, UW-Plattville and UW-Green Bay have 6 students per acre, UWM has 300 students per acre. Santiago believes that on top of the need for space, UWM needs to ensure that the space is allocated in a way that creates the most value for the community and the institution.

The firms selected to lead the Master Plan are Sasaki & Associates and Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA), and there are a total of 9 firms that will take part in the Master Plan. Most of the firms are specialized in focus and were selected to oversee certain parts of the plan; parking and transportation have specialized firms assigned.

Sasaki and Associated and HGA will fuse input from students, faculty, community members and the recommendations of partner firms in the unveiling of the Master Plan itself, around 20 months from now.

Greg Havens, Principal at Sasaki & Associates explained the process of compiling the Master Plan. There are four phases.

Phase A, which is to be completed from now to the end of summer, is called the Observation and Assessment phase. First, they will be doing research about the goals of the project, site reconnaissance and talking to people across the University responsible for “transportation, parking, utilities, et cetera,” said Havens. Over the summer, they will be doing background research. He explained that, “No major decisions will be made during that time.”

At the end of summer, there will be opportunities to give feedback regarding the conclusions they’ve come to. Next, Phase B or the Principle and Concept Plan phase is composed of identifying scenarios that could come to pass over time. Which is an “exploration process that will engage the community,” explained Havens. They will hold listening sessions in order to explore ideas and concepts, get feedback and input from the faculty, the community and students over the fall semester in order to complete this phase by Christmas.

Spring 2008 will usher in the Site/Area/Precinct Planning phase, or Phase C. At this time the firms will be getting into specifics regarding how the different locations across Milwaukee and on campus can be “better organized to serve the mission”, continued Havens, “to serve the academic endeavors that you are undertaking here at the University.” Havens explained that there will be “times for consultation and feedback during that process.”

“Finally, as we move into Phase D, this is where we begin to pull together the information you will need to implement this plan,” said Havens.

Havens stressed that things like cost will be addressed in Phases B and C. Havens explained that this is the point that information needed for implementation will be pulled together “in order to provide executive summaries that will serve to promote the plan.” The vision of UWM will be described. Guidance to help implement the plan will be provided at this time as well. Havens explained that the length of time that the plan is designed for will require flexible guidance and recommendations. The Master Plan will be used over the next 20 years in making decisions at UWM.

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