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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 10/2/06 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
January 29, 2006 Campus changes in store Proposed master plan emphasizes easier navigation, added features By Kelly McBride
A new Inner Loop Road and a newly emphasized main entrance are two of the features in the plan and are designed to ease campus navigation for students and the public.
They're two of many changes, both short- and long-term, in store for a campus officials hope will swell to 7,500 students during the next six years.
With student enrollment hovering around 5,800 on a campus originally designed for 20,000, officials say the new master plan will better accommodate what the 41-year-old university has become — and what it will look like in the future.
"One of the important components is to make our campus a little bit more easily accessible to people who are not familiar with our campus," said Sue Hammersmith, UW-Green Bay's provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. "Now, it can be kind of confusing and a little bit off-putting. The sense you have (is), it's a beautiful campus, but it's hard to know how you get into the center part of campus if you're a visitor."
Current roads and paths on campus are a bit of a mess, said Dean Rodeheaver, assistant chancellor for planning and budget. "You basically see a bowl of spaghetti," he said. "It's really kind of disorganized the way things work."
That disorganization was initially confusing for Susan Frost, a former UW-Green Bay adult degree student who now teaches a humanities course on campus in addition to running Susan Frost Advertising, Inc.
"The first day I went back to school ... I remember standing at the information desk and calling the extended degree program and saying 'I have no idea where I am,'" Frost said. "It seems like a challenge, especially if you're not a student there. ... Once you get it down, it's well marked and it's really convenient."
The Inner Loop Road would give visitors direct access to the campus core. It would be designed for slower traffic than that on the current campus road system, which is outside the core area. The plan also calls for the Inner Loop Road to include pathways for bicyclists and pedestrians.
It also calls for an improved main entry point to campus, emphasizing that entrance and downplaying others.
And plans would alter the configuration of sidewalks inside Inner Loop Road and — as demanded by enrollment — potentially add academic buildings within that area.
Long-range planning
Few of the elements in UW-Green Bay's master plan have a definite timetable.
Some will be worked on regardless of enrollment increases, but some depend on numbers and funding, said Tom Maki, vice chancellor for business and finance.
"When you look at a master planning process, you're not necessarily looking specifically at the cost of making the changes," Maki said. "If the campus doesn't grow, there's certain things that you would identify in the master plan whether the campus grows or not, and other things obviously that would require growth or additional students."
Still, it's not likely that UW-Green Bay will have trouble increasing enrollment, officials have said, because demand exists.
For several years, the campus has been the first in the University of Wisconsin System to close enrollment. In 2005, enrollment closed Jan. 18, the earliest ever. Enrollment has not yet closed for 2006.
Students, community members and other players had their chance to weigh in on the master plan at two campus listening sessions.
University officials are scheduled to meet with consultants Tuesday to make any final revisions to the plan. UW-Green Bay will seek approval from the UW System Board of Regents in April when that group meets on campus.
New opportunities
Looking ahead a number of years, the UW-Green Bay campus could see something it has long lacked — retail space, including a grocery store, a coffee shop or a movie theater.
With the campus' relative isolation — and only a small store for basics like milk — students often leave the campus for grocery shopping and other tasks.
Exploring retail opportunities for UW-Green Bay could mean on-campus stores or near-to-campus partnerships with retailers, Chancellor Bruce Shepard said.
For senior Mai Sing Ho, a transfer student from UW-Madison, it's an idea worth exploring.
"I was on campus in Madison, and they did have a theater there," she said. "I felt that was very (helpful) because lots of students there don't have cars. That'd be nice for the students who do live on campus."
De-emphasizing the need for each student to have his or her own car is a good idea, particularly with the city transit options that exist, said Cole Runge, principal planner for the Brown County Planning Commission. Still, Runge said, current students don't have many incentives not to have a car on campus.
"Even if you were to make the parking much more expensive and keep the bus service the way it is right now, it still would probably not be that appealing to some students," Runge said. "But that's where the next 20, 25 years come into play if you set that campus up ... to make it much more appealing."
The next couple of decades likely will bring many changes to the UW-Green Bay campus, and a significant price tag as well. But for now, officials are focusing on what's beneficial for the campus, not necessarily how much it will cost.
"It's really important to understand that a master plan gives you a vision of where you want to end up," Shepard said. "Those decisions we make today will be depending on what funding is available. Adopting a master plan doesn't add another penny to anybody's budget."
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