07/19 - University of Scranton's Plan for the Future Wins National Award

The University of Scranton's vision for the development of its campus for the next 20 years received one of five national merit awards from the Society for College and University Planners (SCUP) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The university's Campus Facilities Master Plan was noted for its potential to re-invigorate the city's surrounding residential and commercial districts and its merging of the campus with the traditional city street grid.

The award was presented at SCUP's annual conference in San Diego on July 17. The plan was developed in 1999 by Sasaki Associates, Watertown, Mass., in collaboration with campus leaders representing multiple facets of the university's community.

"The Master Plan provides a long-range compass for The University of Scranton to follow," said Martin Langan, associate vice president for administrative services. "We are grateful to receive national recognition for the potential our plan offers for our campus and surrounding community."

The plan recognizes the increased "competitive environment for delivery of education" and recognizes that students and their parents are savvy consumers "with high expectations not only of academics but also for the quality of student life."

The Master Plan is built around a district model that balances academic and residential uses in quadrangles spanning the campus. Buildings concentrated along the edges of blocks would open to center greens that provide open space for recreation and reflection.

Although the plan offers a vision for the next 20 years, the university has already begun to implement several key elements of it.

The plan pointed to a need for greater balance in the placement of student residence halls. The University has already acted on this through the construction of Mulberry Plaza at the corner of Madison Avenue and Mulberry Street and through the plans for Madison Square across Mulberry. Consistent with plan, the design of these townhouses blends with the neighborhood. Mulberry Plaza recently received honorable mention from The Boston Society of Architecture's 2002 Housing Design Awards Program.

In another link to the plan, the university is creating a central campus green at the base of its Commons. The Gallery building was razed last fall and additional landscaping is planned in the coming months, including the planting of trees around the edges of the green.

The first phase of the plan covers a five-year period focusing on the development of buildings on properties already owned by The University of Scranton. Some of the projects listed in it have already been completed, including the construction of Brennan Hall for the Kania School of Management, Mulberry Plaza student residences, and the complete renovation of O'Hara Hall.

Other areas of need in the early phases include an expansion of the Gunster Student Center into a Campus Center and the development of a new science building.

According to its Web site, SCUP, established in 1965, is an association focused on the promotion, advancement, and application of effective planning in higher education. SCUP's international membership of 4,200 includes representatives from two-year and four-year public and private colleges and universities, as well as representatives from governing boards, companies, and other related organizations.