University has big plans for new development

Next set of plans are scheduled to be completed by the year 2020

Doris Voronca / The USD Vista

Construction crews seem ever-present on campus, but the opening of the Student Life Pavilion next fall will mark the beginning of yet another phase of campus development. It has been called the “2020 Plan” for its presumed date of completion. Though currently in its earliest stages, it will be the master plan for the campus.

Before building can begin, a long and complex series of events must take place. “We are in that visioning stage right now,” Roy Heynderickx, Vice President of Finance and Administration, said. “How do you vision the institution 12 years from now? How do you anticipate students, technology and social factors changing? How might the campus need to react to those changes? Those are the kinds of questions we need to be asking right now.”

Heynderickx was selected last year to be Chair of the 2020 Plan. He explained that the current goal is to get people to think about the campus from a broad perspective in order to determine how it should evolve. He stressed that all of the ideas for projects are flexible and prone to change.

Some of the various possibilities being considered include plans for budding programs such as the engineering program in the School of Business, which may grow to become a School of Engineering.

Also under consideration are questions about student housing. Should the university continue to house students above classrooms and offices, or would it be more appropriate to build residential halls elsewhere? Parking and transportation are always important issues for the comfort and safety of the campus community. Furthermore, the acquisition of nearly eight acres of new properties within the past 10 years introduces many new possibilities for the organization of the campus.

Deciding what should become a part of the 2020 Plan is a challenging process that involves the entire university. The Steering Committee, comprised of the president, vice president, deans and other select individuals, will head the decision-making process. The committee was created to collect data and to work directly with Sasaki, the architectural firm chosen to undertake the plan.

This committee, the Steering Committee will receive recommendations from other task forces and committees on campus as well. For example, Student Affairs is providing information about programs, enrollment and residential matters while the deans are conducting academic planning. Student Life is collecting input from students. At this time, all recommendations are being presented and discussed in open forums with faculty, staff, students and neighborhood members.

The Steering Committee will work with Sasaki to come up with two or three different designs for the campus. Eventually, one of the designs will be chosen for presentation and approval. The whole campus will need to approve of the plan by consensus in the fall of 2009 before it is presented to the Board of Trustees.

If all goes well, the plan will then be passed on to the city of San Diego for final approval, which may take up to two years. A capital campaign will also be necessary to acquire funding. In the past, this has been done through a combination of bond proceeds and fundraising.

“It certainly is a long and phased approach, and we are only in the earliest stages right now. The progress we’ve made over the last 10 years is substantial. That’s what we’re trying to control and plan for, is that type of evolution. You’re the beneficiaries of what people were thinking about 10 years ago. That’s why today, we have to think about those students in the future and what their needs will be,” Heynderickx said.