A message from Senior Vice-President, Corporate Services Pam Skinner:
Further to my message earlier this year regarding our planning for new and innovative spaces, I’m pleased to share with you that we’ve made significant progress toward creating our next Campus Master Plan. Planning for the future of our campuses is a collaborative exercise, one that affects each and every member of the Niagara College community.
To that end, a new section of the website has been created to allow faculty, staff and students to stay up-to-date as we move forward together. Project news, timelines and opportunities for engagement will be posted regularly to www.niagaracollege.ca/masterplanning. I encourage you to visit the site frequently.
Taking stock of our campus spaces
As a first step in the Master Planning process, and in order to aid in making transparent and evidence-based space allocation decisions, over the past several months, the college’s interdepartmental Space Management Committee has been working with external consultants, Educational Consulting Services, to create a Space Inventory Review. The review gathered in-depth data about our educational, office, assembly and other spaces at both campuses, to create an accurate, transparent and wholesome picture our current space utilization and requirements.
The completed study commends Niagara College for its program of campus expansion and redevelopment over the past decade, which has modernized our learning environments, helped us adapt to the changing needs and expectations of our learners, and greatly expanded our capacity for research and innovation. It found that NC is well positioned to support students, staff and campus users with high quality, functional and attractive campuses.
At the same time, the study emphasizes that the College has reached the limits of its capacity when it comes to educational space. As we move forward, it’s crucial that we plan appropriately for future growth and ensure we have adequate spaces to enable the exceptional learning experiences we provide students at both campuses.
In addition to expanding and enhancing classroom and flexible learning space, the report also recommended updating academic office areas to more modern and efficient models, improving co-location of like functions, and increasing large assembly space at both campuses. Other planning directions included continuing to showcase our innovative learning enterprises, supporting seamless service delivery within Student Services, and embracing and expanding our outdoor learning spaces.
To complement the Space Inventory Review, a Fit-to-Function Assessment was also completed that measured the suitability of campuses spaces to accommodate the activities taking place within them. The assessment revealed that the majority of Niagara College facilities provide a well-matched environment for the function taking place within them, be it teaching and learning space, office space, or common areas, with only 0.6 per cent being deemed unfit.
These reports will be among several critical points of input that will inform the creation of our next Master Plan. Other factors that will guide the plan include a deferred maintenance plan, the college’s 2017-2021 Strategic Plan, our future enrolment plans and external community factors, such as the Niagara Region’s Glendale District Plan currently under development.
Moving forward together
In the coming weeks and months, the college will be working with architects Tillman, Ruth and Robinson (aTRR), to incorporate these points of input into a cohesive Campus Master Plan. Feedback from across the college will be an important part of this process, and throughout the summer, a series of cross-college workshops and visioning exercises, alongside consultations both within the college and with our external stakeholders will clarify and refine our vision for the future of our facilities, learning environments and campus grounds. A Master Planning Committee, with representation from across the organization, will also be formed to help guide this process. The recommended timeline provided by aTRR proposes an aggressive goal to share a draft report with the college community in the fall of 2019, for review and input.
This is an exciting time for our college, and I encourage you to stay engaged as we move through this process together. Please reach out to myself, or to Ralph Scholz, director of Facilities Management Services, with any questions or concerns.
