| Master Planning |
Dear Neighbor:
After an 18-month process that included discussions with faculty, staff, students, neighbors, alumni, township officials, and the University Park Campus Master Planning team, Penn State Abington’s Campus Master Plan was presented to the Penn State Board of Trustees on July 13, 2007 and approved unanimously. Several documents are now available for your review. Follow the appropriate links below to view the plan.
Campus Master Planning follows a well-defined process at Penn State with three distinct stages:
Current Priorities includes projects that are currently in the University’s Capital Plan or that can be funded by the campus. These projects are modest in scope although important in esthetic impact. We have already begun to set priorities and timelines for the completion of these projects and you will hear more as they progress.
Future Opportunities outlines projects that may be implemented in the event that funding becomes available and the project merits advancing to a more active planning stage. Buildings and improvements in Future Opportunities cover a span of 20 to 25 years. As we achieve funding for each of these projects, we will need to secure the necessary university approvals, meet zoning and other local conditions, and determine the appropriate scope of each project. At this time the projects proposed in the Future Opportunities stage have not yet been prioritized. Setting the priorities will depend on many elements, including the interest of potential donors, the state of the college’s curriculum and programming at the time, and the “fit” between the project and the college’s vision and strategic goals. Consultation with neighbors and local officials will be ongoing.
Long-Term Possibilities covers a timeframe far beyond the scope of the Campus Master Planning process and indicates some of the possibilities we might want to consider once the planning period is complete. As in the first two stages, each project will be considered on its own merits only when funding is available and local ordinances, as well as consultation, are taken into account.
I hope that you will take some time to review the comments presented to the Board of Trustees: Vice President Gary Schultz’ introduction to the Campus Master Plan, my overview of the college and its vision, and Campus Planner Gordon Turow’s presentation of the plan itself. The completion of our Campus Master Plan gives our college the opportunity to include capital projects in our fundraising goals, to proceed with confidence to deal with some of the issues facing the campus (including traffic, esthetics, and building effectiveness), and to envision a future Abington College where the quality of the learning environment matches the quality of the educational programs we offer.
Sincerely,
Karen Wiley Sandler, Ph. D.