November 3, 2015
2016 Space Migration Planning Project underway
Things are changing on campus — and it's not just the temperature and leaves. Foundation staff moved into their new building last week, the Engineering Phase IV expansion is scheduled for completion very soon and significant progress is being made on the new College of Business Administration building and the Berney Family Welcome Center. With all of these changes, it's time to think about the next phase of space migration on campus.
Following the successful completion of the first space migration phase, I am excited to announce the start of the 2016 Space Migration Planning Project. The second phase will reallocate space being vacated as a result of the 2015 planning project. You can find information regarding the available space as well as a schedule of tours and proposal guidelines on the Space Migration website.
The Space Migration Work Group, or SMWG, is again charged with implementing the 2016 Space Migration Project, evaluating the proposals and making recommendations to President Schulz. Returning members of the work group are April Mason, provost and senior vice president; Pam Warren, University Support Staff Senate president; Andrew Hurtig, Student Governing Association president; and myself. New members are Andrew Bennett, Faculty Senate president-elect; and Amanda Martens, Graduate Student Council president. Heather Mills, assistant director space management, and Ryan Swanson, associate vice president for facilities, will continue to provide support to the work group. I greatly appreciate the willingness of these individuals to commit time and energy to this important project over the next several months.
Based on feedback from the 2015 Space Migration project, we are planning to follow a similar format for this project. The campus is invited to submit concept proposals through their deans and vice presidents with the proposals submitted to the Space Migration Work Group by Dec. 11. The work group will review these initial proposals to determine which applications best support the university vision. After the initial assessment of the concept proposals, a condensed list of applicants will be asked to work with the Office of Campus Planning to submit final and more detailed proposals for review. At this stage, multiple applicants may be asked to collaborate on a joint proposal to better optimize synergies and space usage. The final proposal submissions will be reviewed by the work group as well as the President's Cabinet with recommendations submitted to President Schulz. Recommendations and the final decisions will be based on which mix of proposals best support our overall university goals and the Space Migration Guiding Principles that have been developed as criteria to aid in the preparation and review process.
The final space migration outcomes will be announced by May 6, 2016. The general project timeline is
- Building tours: Nov. 9-24
- Accept concept proposals: Now through Dec. 11
- SMWG review of concept proposals: Dec. 14-Jan. 22
- Final concept proposal submission: Jan. 25-March 4
- SMWG, Cabinet, and President review: March 7-April 15
- Decisions announced: May 6
All proposals will be available on the Space Migration website throughout the length of the project. All other information, including the procedures, concept and final proposal forms, and evaluation and rating criteria, also will be available there.
Change isn't always easy or welcome, but the space migration process has already allowed us to make strategic and positive changes on our campus. I look forward to your ideas and proposals during the second phase as we help the university in reaching its long range goals.
Sincerely,
Cindy Bontrager
Vice President for Administration and Finance