A message from Senior Vice-President, Corporate Services Pam Skinner:
As we close out a busy summer and begin the Fall 2019 term, I’d like to take this opportunity to update you on some exciting progress we’ve made on the creation of Niagara College’s Campus Master Plan, and share some upcoming milestones and opportunities for engagement.
As you may know, earlier this year Niagara College embarked on its Campus Master Planning process, which will create a unified vision for our campuses for the next 10-15 years. Planning for the future of our campus environments cannot be done in a vacuum, but must align with the long-term vision we’ve established for our college. The Master Planning process takes this vision, as articulated in our Strategic Plan, maintenance plans, enrolment strategies, and other points of input, and ensures our campus spaces continue to meet the complex needs of our evolving college community.
Since my last update, several new developments have progressed the master planning process. On August 23, the College formally acquired the Niagara Corporate Business Centre, a 33-acre property and three-storey office building directly adjacent to the Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus. This property adds considerable flexibility as we consider the future of our campuses, and the opportunities it will unlock will become more apparent as the Master Plan is refined in the coming months.
A successful master plan is one that incorporates feedback from both inside and outside our college community. Over the past several months, the College has been working with architects Tillmann, Ruth and Robinson (aTRR) to gather this input. A detailed review of the College’s facilities and maintenance data has given us a better sense of the current state of our spaces, as well as their most pressing needs.
aTTR has also engaged with groups and individuals within the College and the Board of Governors in collaborative visioning exercises that have helped produce a draft set of Vision and Design Principles which will be shared in a broad consultation across the college community.
We’ve heard a lot of ambitious and visionary feedback through our consultations so far, and these principles reflect the key elements our campuses should incorporate in order to reflect our shared identity as a college community, and our long-term strategic goals. We’ve heard that NC’s passion and achievements should be made more prominent and visible, that we should embrace our surroundings and make stronger connections to NC’s outdoor spaces, and that we should consider the changing academic landscape when planning for the future. These are just a small sample of the themes that have emerged so far.
These themes will help guide some of the more concrete priorities for our future work. Some examples we’ve heard in our consultations include a need for flexible classrooms that encourage experiential learning, more meeting and collaborative spaces that meet the needs of the wider Niagara community, and improved office space for faculty and staff.
As we head into the fall, there will be further opportunities for the college community and outside stakeholders to provide input into this process. Townhall sessions will be held later in the fall so that the college community can review and discuss the design process and concepts to date. An online survey will be available later this fall to allow staff, faculty and students to provide feedback. We are aiming to have a draft Master Plan to be shared for review before the end of the calendar year.
As our campus spaces continue to expand and evolve, it is more important than ever that this transformation reflects the strategic priorities and long-term vision that we share for our College. As we gain a clearer picture of what that future could look like, we look forward to hearing your feedback through the engagement opportunities mentioned above. If you have any questions about the master planning process, please reach out to myself, or to Ralph Scholz, director of Facilities Management Services.
