CAMPUS PLANNING - Roger Williams University

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2002-2003 RWU Presidential Fellowship Report: Campus Planning 2. The Team The Master Planning Committee The existence of an inclusive “Design Authority” is seen as critical to the development and implementation of a successful Campus Plan. In 2002 President Nirschel took the important step of establishing such a body in the structuring of the university Master Planning Committee. This committee includes senior administrators, alumni, faculty, academic deans and students. The committee is chaired by the Executive Assistant to the President along with the Director of Facilities Management and the Dean of the School of Architecture. This committee serves the important role of balancing the competing interests of the various university constituencies and acting as a representative forum for the discussion of issues related to the facilities and space needs of the campus community. In some cases this type of committee includes representation from the Board of Trustees, such as the chair of the Board’s own Facilities Committee if such a committee exists. The following mission / objectives of the Roger Williams University Master Planning Committee were developed during the Fall of 2002: • To link Campus Planning and Facilities initiatives to the core values and mission of the University. • To link Physical Planning and Institutional Planning. of issues related to the facilities and space needs of the campus community. • To foster a comprehensive, integrated and environmentally sensitive approach to campus and facilities planning and development. • To advise the administration on the development of guidelines and principles that will provide greater continuity and will shape the future development of the Campus. • To advise the administration and provide input to professionals and consultants during the development and review of campus planning proposals, landscape proposals, precinct plans and individual building proposals. • To provide the institution with a sense of place which reinforces its mission, goals and identity and which celebrates community and the beauty of its natural setting. • To provide safe and supportive facilities for all members of the campus community and for all university sites “on campus” or off. • To foster interaction and dialogue with the surrounding community on issues of interest and opportunities of mutual benefit. • To act as a representative forum for the discussion 9
2002-2003 RWU Presidential Fellowship Report: Campus Planning The Professional Team The list of consultants involved in a given Master Planning process can be many and varied. To date the university has relied on a rather limited group of such consultants in planning for and implementing facilities initiatives. Primary among these omissions is the absence, in the history of the University, of a dedicated Campus Planning effort. Such efforts have been limited to supporting specific building initiatives or have been completed by Architects whose primary focus is on the provision of architectural services. This over reliance on a specific entity from a specific field (regardless of the range of services provided) can inhibit the kind of integrated and comprehensive thinking required in the consideration of the complexities of the Campus environment. At the same time, isolated and uncoordinated consultants, left to their own devices, can be equally ineffective. This brings us back to the importance of a coordinating entity on the professional side as well as on the university side. On the University side, this entity could be a Director of Planning, a Campus Architect, or could be drawn from the membership of a Committee such as the current Master Planning Committee. Ultimately the Master Planning Committee can provide a vital forum and can ensure a representative and comprehensive grasp of the issues involved and in the formulation of standards and guidelines that aid professionals in the development of proposals that will be in step with the larger goals and aspirations of the University. It is also critical that a representative professional team be brought on as early as possible. Recent building projects on campus have suffered from the lack of a strong and consistent attention to the importance of the landscape. The landscape is the glue that holds a Campus together and should be treated as an integral aspect of any building project regardless of the scale. The original Campus, in spite of its dated architectural expression, shows a strong integration of building and landscape that is lacking in current undertakings. The professional team may include representatives from any of the following, including various specializations within the listed fields: • Facilities Planning / Space Planning • Traffic Planning / Parking • Campus Planning (often integrating the fields of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Architecture) • Landscape Architecture • Architecture • Public Art • Interior Design 3. The Process Institutional Planning An institutional vision is of obvious importance to the success of any Master planning process. The linkage of this vision to Facilities or Campus Planning is not automatic or linear. There needs to be a clear feedback loop, an iterative process that allows for the one to influence the other and 10
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CAMPUS PLANNING - Roger Williams University

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