Share thoughts on campus master plan

UIC is sharpening its focus to address future student growth and success on campus.

“Envisioning Our Future: 2017-2027 Plan” provides data-driven recommendations for physical campus development over the next decade. Projects include a revamped soccer stadium, new residence hall with classrooms and an open, grassy quad.

The plan serves as an update to the “2010 UIC Campus Master Plan” and was developed using historical data, in-depth space capacity analysis and strategic growth plans. It also takes into account anticipated enrollment increases.

“The 2017-2027 Plan is focused on a 10-year window,” said Fernando Howell, director of UIC’s Office of Capital Planning and Project Management. “It takes a sharper look at what kind of growth the campus predicts and what are the implications in terms of the campus infrastructure to enable that growth.”

Howell will present the recommendations at two Master Plan Town Halls – which are open to the UIC community – this week.

The first town hall takes place at 3 p.m. Wednesday in 2850 University Hall, and the second is at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in the College of Nursing Auditorium, Room 158. Both will include an open forum.

The goals are to ensure transparency, inform the community and receive valuable feedback.

“We want to make sure everyone’s aware of the plan, make sure everyone’s aware of the planning process and make sure that they understand that this is an opportunity to provide feedback and ideas,” Howell said.

The UIC community can also give their feedback online.

Although Howell and his team have spent a considerable amount of time developing the 10-year blueprint, they are open to transforming aspects to better meet the needs of UIC.

“The Master Plan is currently published in draft format,” Howell said. “Although it’s build on a tremendous amount of collaboration and outreach with campus stakeholders, there’s always a desire to receive more input.”