MINUTES FROM FACILITY MASTER PLAN FORUM
HELD JANUARY 19, 2005
Bob Wilson opened the forum at 12:30 p.m. He informed the group that the Facility Master Plan is rapidly moving toward the point where President Leland will be making a presentation to the Board of Regents in March. Dr. Wilson stated that the Forum is a wonderful opportunity for faculty and staff to share concerns and needs. The group was told of the Master Plan website on the University's Info Page and urged to use the website for reviewing information and submitting recommendations concerning the Master Plan.
Dr. Wilson said that the FMP committee was established by and reports directly to President Leland who has taken on the initiative of coherent and intentional planning for this campus. Dr. Wilson turned the meeting over to President Leland.
President Leland addressed the forum participants by stating that the Physical Master Planning process is a process whose timeline and frequency is dictated by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. She stated that the presentation she hopes to make at the Board of Regents meeting in March will serve one purpose - to provide a context for GCSU's capital project requests; nearly one-half of the projects will be approved by the Board of Regents a couple of months later. Leland said that the plan from the beginning of the Facility Master Plan process is to bundle together the three remaining historical buildings as one project, rather than having each building as a separate project. She also explained that each project can take five to seven years to be approved and each university can only have two projects on the list per year.
President Leland reviewed the "Charge To The Committee" shown at the University's web site, http://info.gcsu.edu/masterplan/
President Leland presented Sasaki's presentation from the December 1, 2004 Master Plan Committee and Cross Team Meeting 2, which is shown on the University's web site, http://info.gcsu.edu/masterplan/workproducts.htm President Leland told the group that following the meeting on December 1, 2005, the consultants, Sasaki, were given a number of comments and much of the information shown today, in some respects, is outdated.
President Leland pointed out that the information shown regarding space needs is purely quantitative analysis. President Leland also told the group that much of the information is based on assumptions that she has made based on conversations that she has had with faculty and staff; GCSU cannot grow much more at the undergraduate level on the current Milledgeville campus to sustain the public liberal arts mission.
President Leland said that there has been discussion of refocusing part-time, graduate professional education programs in Macon and Warner Robins; GCSU is looking for opportunities to grow those programs because it is one of the areas outside of metropolitan Atlanta with a large population base that continues to see steady growth.
President Leland stated that the figures shown in the presentation show a slight elevation in the headcount on Milledgeville campus and significant growth in Macon and Warner Robins with no time line for this growth being projected.
Ken McGill asked if the figures shown for Space Needs Analysis mean that there are too many classrooms. President Leland said that yes, it did and explained that the problem lies with classroom utilization. She added that GCSU has recently submitted a space utilization study to the Board of Regents and the figures did not look favorable toward GCSU; the study is the basis in arguing for new classroom space and GCSU has no argument. Leland also said that there is a possibility that the classrooms may not be appropriate for the GCSU mission.
McGill asked if the under-utilization of classrooms finding was because of the way we define a classroom. President Leland said it was because of the way the classrooms are scheduled. President Leland explained that classrooms for the academic programs are defined by schools and there are great periods when certain classrooms are open. President Leland added that the deans are now working together in order to create a more coordinated scheduling process; also, a scheduling instrument called "Schedule 25" will be used in order to help better utilize classrooms.
Betty Block asked for an explanation of the audio/visual space need analysis. President Leland said that the audio/visual needs are associated with the television production studio/radio station/video production programs on campus.
Someone asked about the art galleries in the Master Plan study. President Leland said that was included in a session yet to be presented; she added that it is not a question of the quality of space that GCSU has but a question of the quantity of space GCSU has. President Leland said that the information provided is based on national data, data that the Board of Regents will look at from a quantitative point of view; there is another and more important element to the study which was discussed at the last meeting in detail and that was the suitability from a qualitative point of view of the space that GCSU has.
Someone asked for a definition of "Campus Center." Leland explained that it referred to student oriented space, not residential space, but informal gathering space, i.e. student organizations, clubs, and activities space. She explained that these spaces do not have to be in one building, but the figures shown include the "Old Methodist Church." President Leland stated that "Campus Center" need does not surprise her at all; in seven years GCSU has gone from a commuter, part-time campus to a residential campus and the need for student space has changed quantitatively with this shift.
President Leland continued the presentation. She reminded the group that "Space Need Findings" is a quantitative analysis and includes buildings that can barely be used, like Ennis Hall.
President Leland posed the question that if GCSU is to grow off campus, where will the growth take place. Leland said that GCSU will not be successful in establishing a presence outside of Milledgeville without its own campus or facility; using another institution's facility does not allow signage and wayfinding and control over space usage for GCSU's programs. Leland added that she will not be looking for state dollars to fund this project, but she will look for a privatization project.
Continuing the presentation, Leland said that Sasaki's figures show that housing needs will be adequate. Leland has asked that Sasaki to re-look at those figures; in the last Physical Master Plan process, it was determined that GCSU would be brought to the COPLAC average for students living on campus, which is 40%. Leland said it needs to be asked if the COPLAC average is good enough for GCSU now compared to GCSU's competition or what GCSU would like for the competition to be; and not all competition is COPLAC schools. Leland said she did not think the housing needs will be sufficient and in the next Facility Master Planning process, she anticipates an increased need for residential space.
President Leland said with regards to parking, there is a need for approximately 500 parking spaces on the Milledgeville Campus. President Leland continued with the Space Needs Analysis in the presentation.
President Leland reminded the forum participants that much of the information shown in the presentation will be changed based on comments and suggestions at the last Facility Master Plan Steering Committee meeting. She said that in the last Master Plan process, the Art Department was scheduled to move to Ennis, which remains the plan; President Leland said there had been no objections from the Art Department or Sasaki to this move.
Regarding Audio/Visual space needs, President Leland said that the suggestion had been made to locate this area downtown; President Leland said she did not think this was possible because property purchased downtown could not be purchased with State funds but must be a privatized venture. This fact demands that anything located downtown have a revenue stream, i.e. bookstore. Space for Audio/Visual will be reinvestigated by the Sasaki team.
President Leland stated that Beeson, Terrell and McIntosh are being considered for additional office space. She said that she is aware that these buildings are not in wonderful condition but there is a plan to renovate these buildings. President Leland said that there is a plan to bundle a couple of these building along with the courthouse as part of the University's historic renovation project; it is hoped that the Board of Regents will see this as one big project, not three separate buildings.
President Leland said that the Student Union space, which has become a controversial topic, is being reevaluated by the Facility Master Planners to possibly include using part of the library for more student space. President Leland pointed out that in a previous slide, the Master Planners reported that GCSU has far more quantitative library space than needed for a student population of 5,800 or projected 8,000 on two campuses. She said that the Master Planners would like for GCSU officials to consider constructing the library by opening up more space that is available to students 24/7; currently there is a restricted space for checking out material or using computer labs. Leland stated that the Planners believe that student space in the library can be expanded without harming the library. President Leland assured the group that this and other spaces will be considered and recommendations will be made before any decision is reached.
President Leland said that the need for lab spaces will be met when the Herty Hall project, which is on the minor capital project list, is approved.
President Leland informed the group that when the Art Department move to Ennis is complete, the buildings now occupied by the Art Department will be abandoned; there are plans to reconvert Mayfair into an Inn for visitors to campus and transform Blackbridge into a Faculty Club. She added that even though these ideas are not set in stone, the recommendations that will be made will maximize space utilization and support the University's mission.
President Leland explained that Conference space refers to Continuing Education space. She also said that University officials are looking at a couple of possibilities for a Conference Center; University officials are looking at the Forstmann Building which has 400,000 square feet of space (cement beams that are meant to withstand hurricanes) and ample parking. Leland said that the building should also be fairly easy to renovate because it has no structures inside the building. President Leland said that GCSU is trying to get the purchase of this building on the Minor Project List and trying to get people to see this as a project of opportunity; the seller of the Forstmann Building is willing to sell the property at a very good price and donate back one-half of the sales price to go toward renovation of the facility. President Leland said that if GCSU purchases the building/property, there are plans to clear up more main square campus space by putting some functions of the main campus at the Forstmann Building such as part of Physical Plant, part of Public Safety and certainly Continuing Education; Continuing Education would be well sustained in that location because of the parking space, classroom space, auditorium space, etc. President Leland added that these are ideas of what could go in the Forstmann Building; one thing that is apparent is there is no space in the existing space for the type of conference space that has been mentioned in the master plan committee meetings.
Doug Oetter asked President Leland if Front Campus would be used for graduation if the Centennial Center is not going to be used. President Leland said that was still the plan. Doug asked if GCSU had a Performing Arts Center would it be used for graduation. President Leland said she did not know; the Performing Arts Center configuration will be driven by the needs of the programs.
Bill Wall asked what the status of ranking for Phase II of Herty Hall. President Leland said there was no ranking for Herty Hall; Herty is a minor project which is a "free for all." President Leland explained that minor projects are not ranked by the Board of Regents; these projects are applied for in the legislative session and unfortunately, this year, the governor did not include any funds for minor projects in his budget. Leland said acquiring funds for the Herty project is a long shot assuring everyone that GCSU officials will work for the funds to do the project. She added that the good news is that the Parks Nursing/Health Sciences project was included in the governor's budget and the governor thinks it is a very good project and is very supportive of it. Ken McGill asked if it would be a better strategy to have it on the major capital project list. President Leland said that was not possible because major capital projects are dictated by cost. McGill said if GCSU waits long enough, the cost will be reached. Leland said that GCSU can only have two projects on that list; this year, of 17 projects presented to the Board of Regents, four went up. If GCSU gets on this list, not only will we be somewhere on the bottom of the list, the Regents will rank order for the next round of projects they pick and GCSU could be number 25. Leland stated that this is a temporary situation; the chances of having the Herty project funded is greater as a minor project than if it were placed on the major project list. Leland said that if at some point, the project cost crosses that threshold, GCSU may be forced to break it down into two projects or put it on the majors, but it will take a long time.
Ken McGill asked if minor project funding will come back; Leland said that yes, it would. President Leland said that she thinks the governor's budget office is concerned about level of bond indebtedness; that is a one year concern.
President Leland readdressed Doug Oetter's question regarding a Performing Arts Center stating that there is a current program for the Performing Arts Center that has been in Milledgeville for five years that was developed by faculty; when the Master Plan process is over, the program will be reviewed to see if it still fits current needs. If GCSU is fortunate to land a public/private partnership that both fits the needs of GCSU's performing arts programs and has broader needs, i.e. Milledgeville community needing a center that is connected to a hotel to bring conventions to Milledgeville, if that could be done, we could also create a wonderful indoor site for Commencement should people decide that that is a better way to do it. Oetter commented that he did not see a Performing Arts Center mentioned on the list of needs for GCSU. President Leland said our existing indoor space is not well-suited for Commencement, but the Board of Regents would never allow GCSU to build a Performing Arts Center just for Commencement; what institutions have to do is find the best space that they have or use space that is not owned by the institution.
President Leland continued with the Sasaki presentation. She talked about a Visitor's Center, suggesting that the old Courthouse would be ideal for this; the building is not only in an ideal location, it is symbolic of the connection of GCSU with the community. Leland said that the Courthouse could also be used by some other externally focused functions, perhaps the President's Office, University Advancement, University Relations and the part of total management that deals with campus visitors. Other alternatives, Leland said, is to put a Convention Center there, but the parking issues are really significant; if GCSU can get the Forstmann building, it would be a better option.
Another recommendation that is coming out of the Master Planning Process, President Leland informed the group, is looking at GCSU's landscaping and green space; one of the recommendations is that green space be increased and that a green recreational space is created in the Centennial area of campus. Leland said that not only will it help aesthetically, but it will create more informal recreational opportunities for students. Other recommendations included maintaining the front lawn, extending the Presidential Garden to the curb, lining Fountain Walk (sidewalk between the library and Arts & Sciences building) with trees to create a tree covered space, and creating a revolving Art Park by the side of Arts & Sciences Building.
Someone asked if Chappell Hall will be torn down, which is what was discussed at one time. President Leland said that it probably would not and explained that part of the funding for the Master Planning process came from a Getty Grant; the purpose of this grant is to create a template for the State University System for Master Planning for campuses that have historic structures and Chappell become historical two years ago. President Leland said that planners are aware of the concerns with Chappell and have planned to make recommendations to use landscaping to integrate Chappell's appearance with the rest of campus.
A slide regarding parking availability on campus was shown. President Leland said that she and the planners agree that the problem is under-utilization of existing parking spaces; there are under-utilized areas and over utilized areas and there needs to be a plan to fully utilize parking spaces. Leland said that coding parking areas by color and restricting parking to the assigned areas.
Doug Oetter commented that this was the first time anyone other than committee members have had any input in this process. President Leland explained that there is a student representative (SGA representative) on the committee, every school has representatives on the committee, and other areas of GCSU are represented on the committee as well. Also, a number of unit heads were interviewed in August, 2004, so the input has been present all along and the purpose of the forum today is to see if anything significant was missed. President Leland told the group that the website (http://info.gcsu.edu/masterplan/) has committee members listed if anyone would like to discuss anything.
Another thing that is being considered is additional parking in the Bobcat Village area, primarily student parking, Leland said; the map shown is not accurate and the planners are re-looking at their maps. Leland reminded the group that the planners will not dictate what is done, they will make recommendations for GCSU officials to consider.
President Leland continued the presentation with Signage and Wayfinding information; GCSU needs to be easily found from anywhere in Milledgeville and buildings on campus should also be easily found; this part of the Master Planning process will address that. Leland said that the planners also found the signage deficient in the sense of the look and the consistency of the look; if there is a consistent look to the signage, people will identify with it and helps create an identity for the university. The planners have also recommended planting smaller hedges around the perimeter and around some of the older houses that have become a part of GCSU in order to maintain the historic look.
Robert Parr asked about the map showing West Campus and the Soccer Field and stated the need for additional parking at the soccer field and the intramural fields. Leland explained that when the planners were doing these maps, they did not have the most current maps on West Campus.
President Leland said that one of the things the planners noticed and have asked GCSU officials to reconsider lining the walkways with trees rather than having them scattered; the lined trees create a formal look that says "this is a main pathway."
President Leland continued the presentation; she explained that the planners have suggested a process to be followed in order to ensure that new facilities on the GCSU campus are consistent with the historical character of the campus.
President Leland mentioned Lake Laurel, which had not been discussed. She said that Lake Laurel is a very important area; it has been recommended that Lake Laurel's educational use be expanded.
Doris Moody expressed concern about the Honor's Program which has grown 15% to 20% each year for the last five years and have been fortunate enough to get Sanford Hall for a residence hall but the program has already outgrown that; there is no office space and one small classroom. Dr. Moody said that GCSU is limiting its growth because there is no additional space available and the seamless living/learning experience is wanted for the honor students; only 50 of the 75 students honor student coming to GCSU this fall can be housed. President Leland said that the Facility Master Plan committee members realize that there is a need for that; one of the charges to the planners was that an Academic Core be established.
Rick Bialac said that the last presentation done by the planners did not include anything regarding the bike path and its impact on the parking. President Leland said that the planners were made aware of this and they have been supplied with information to include it in the plans. Leland said that a biking trail had been planned to unify Bobcat Village to the future site of the Oconee River Greenway and the planners have been charged with including that in the Master Plan; in the wayfinding plans, the planners have also been asked to look at alternative modes of transportation.
Ken McGill asked about the growth off campus. President Leland responded that ideally, the strategic master plan is done before the facility master plan, but GCSU did not have that luxury; the university's strategic plan should have been started a year ago but a new plan was not put into place at that time. Leland reassured everyone that the recommendations from the planners do not commit the university to anything but what the Master Plan does is give leverage for saying that GCSU is looking for targets of opportunity for growth but does not demand it. Leland said that there needs to be serious conversations about the extent to which GCSU will grow, the benefits and the drawbacks; one of the drawbacks to capping growth on the campus is a problem; state funding which is smaller than desired but is vital to GCSU welfare, is largely driven by growth. Leland added that since she has been at GCSU, the question she has asked herself over and over again is how to achieve long-term financial stability for GCSU's undergraduate mission.
President Leland began closing the forum by stating that maybe sometime in the future, the formula for funding will be changed so that funding is not determined by growth but determined by quality; maybe by then GCSU will become so well known and so good at fund raising that GCSU significantly increases the endowment and raises it national stature enough that more corporate and foundation funding clothes the way more easily.
Ken McGill asked what the rules for mixing public and private funds for projects were because when Herty was being funded, GCSU was told that private funds could not be brought in to a State project. President Leland said that the projects can be divided so that private funds could be used.
President Leland reminded everyone of the website and the time for input is now. Dr. Bob Wilson encouraged everyone to send him an email with any comments or questions. These will be forwarded to Sasaki who will be on campus on January 25th. Dr. Wilson also said that Dr. Todd Shiver will be assuming the role as chairman of the Facility Master Plan committee and any questions or comments can be sent to him after the January 25th meeting.
