During fall semester 2017, Metropolitan State University administrators, faculty, staff and students are reviewing a preliminary plan from consulting firm BWBR for optimizing the usage of our owned and leased space. This site is being provided to enable all members of the campus community to participate in the coming weeks' consultative work.
Opportunities and changes over the last few years (opening two new buildings, the growth of academic programs and student services, increased numbers of resident faculty and advisors, moderating enrollments, changing patterns of course taking, reorganized academic and support units, and strengthened partnerships with colleges) have affected Metropolitan State's allocation and usage of space. Therefore, it is time to assess our total space resources at one time and to apply mission-aligned values and best practices in space use in preparation for the university's future development. (This space-use study does not address our needs for new building projects or space expansion. Rather, this study is focused on how we use our current space.)
Our consultants' study, and our analysis of the preliminary plan, are intended to align with the following strategic themes:
- Our use of space must be student-centered, focused on enhancing the student experience and on naturally clustering student-facing services;
- Our future choices need to be functionally organized; this includes how we situate connections with employees and the public, as well as with students; space placement should enhance interaction with related departments, students and our community as necessary to our functions;
- All of our planning, including space planning, is premised on growing enrollment: we will work toward enrolling and serving a head count of 15,000 students by 2025;
- We will keep the future trends of our online instructional capacity and our regional partnerships in focus as we assess the use of our space.
As faculty, staff and students review these materials and formulate feedback, our campus discussion will be most productive as we keep these goals in mind and organize our comments around whether the proposed plan satisfies these goals and as we recommend changes that will enhance achievement of the goals. It is equally important to identify any adverse consequences that seem not to have been considered in formulating the draft plan.
A dedicated email account has been created in the Office of the President for submitting space comments.
The study documents include a report, a slide deck, a set of display boards and a color key. They are currently undergoing an accessibility review and will be made available once accessible.
- Color Legend by College
- Strategic Space Allocation Study
- Strategic Space Allocation Report
- Gallery Walk Display Boards