As part of an "effort to improve culture and recruit students and retain students," Dennis Black, vice president for student affairs, and Michael Dupre, associate vice president for University Facilities, unveiled a "master plan" to create new residence halls and student apartments on South Campus during an Amherst Town Planning meeting Wednesday night.
A major focus of the plan, Black and Dupre said, is to provide a sense of community, both on campus and off.
Renovations to South Campus will include a revamping of Clement Hall, the transformation of Goodyear Hall into high-rise apartments, the construction of village-style apartments in place of McDonald, Pritchard and Schoellkopf Halls, and the transformation of Harriman Hall into the central hub of the South Campus community.
University Facilities has already renovated several classrooms in Hayes Hall as well as masonry on the stone facades of many of the academic halls, and torn down two of the aluminum buildings that once stood in the center of the South Campus courtyard, Dupre said.
He added that renovations to the academic buildings on South Campus often go unnoticed, though they are equally important to housing projects. Dupre asked those who say UB is "not investing on South Campus" to "take a close look."
"We spend millions and millions of dollars on things that people don't see, but it keeps things air conditioned, it keep the buildings running," he said.
No time frame has been established for the South Campus renovations and building projects, according to Black.
The administrators also presented an update on renovations and building projects taking place on North campus. Black said the Ellicott Complex, which houses 3,200 students, can seem both landlocked and isolated at times, so a central entrance and meeting place is being constructed.
"(Ellicott) doesn't have a center, a core, it doesn't have a front door," said Black.
Black said he expects the renewal to be completed by the start of the spring semester.
In addition, the Lee Road Project is entering final planning stages, and Black said he hopes the new complex will serve as a North-South connector between the Academic Spine and the Ellicott Complex.
Like the newly erected Creekside Village apartments, the Lee Road Project will be constructed using "green design" concepts, which include environmentally friendly heating and cooling systems, and possibly electric car plugs.
The Lee Road Project constitutes the sixth major student housing project the university has undertaken since 1997.
Though the apartment complexes are self-sustaining and maintained only by student leases, several associations and public funding agencies sponsor the improvements to the academic buildings. In turn, the improvements to the academic buildings help sustain new grants that aid in the improvements of additional academic structures.
The university's grants have increased 34 percent in the last year, according to Dupre, generating millions of dollars for use on infrastructure and structural renovations, such as the creation of UB's Moot Court Room, which is under consideration for future use by the town of Amherst, and Ketter Hall's earthquake simulation labs, which can test the structural soundness of bridges and is one of the most advanced facilities of its kind.
Prior to 1997, the same year that Dupre and Black came to UB, the university had not added to or renovated residence halls on either campus in approximately 25 years, but due largely in part to the creation of a 5-year budget plan, UB had the ability to begin looking at long-term projects, Black said.
The current budget plan expires in April of 2003, and Black and Dupre said they are cautious about the drafting of a new plan, due to current economic patterns in the aftermath of Sept. 11.
