December 9, 2013 | Combined Reports - UConn Communications

Public Sessions Scheduled This Week With Master Planning Firms

The University is holding three open interviews this week, as part of its search for a firm to help prepare a 20-year master plan.

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The University is planning three public ‘meet and greet’ sessions this week, as part of its search for a planning firm to assist in the preparation of a comprehensive master plan.

The master plan will guide the physical development of the campus for the next 20 years. The list of firms has been narrowed to three, all of whom have extensive experience and deep portfolios of successful master planning initiatives for major universities across the country.

The public interviews have been scheduled for short-listed firms as follows:

The three short-listed firms have demonstrated their technical skills and abilities to prepare a master plan for UConn. The last step in the selection process is a visit to the campus to meet with the campus leadership and the wider university community.

The consultants have been asked to prepare an hour-long, interactive ‘meet and greet’ session. They will cover the basics of preparing a master plan and how this initiative will benefit UConn and the surrounding community. More importantly they will seek public advice and input on how to design a master plan process that engages the UConn community throughout the year-long planning initiative.

“The most successful campus master plans are the result of early consultations, extensive interaction, and ample opportunity for input along the way,” says Laura Cruickshank, University master planner and chief architect. “This generates ideas, builds consensus and eventually provides a sense of ownership of the plan for the campus and its stakeholder groups.”

The master plan consulting team will be selected from the three finalists shortly after the December visits, and your participation is welcomed and encouraged as the University makes this decision. The University seeks to select a consulting team that understands the desire for full participation of the campus and the community in planning campus development for the next 20 years. Public feedback on the performance of each team, collected after each session, will factor into the final selection process.

The formal kick-off for the master plan will occur in January, followed by 10-12 months of intensive planning activities that will involve the campus and the community at every stage, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, legislators, and other stakeholders and partners.