Wednesday, March 28, 2001, 11:30-12:30, German Culture Room
Committee Members Present: Scott Heinekamp, Michael Groth, Ellen Hall, Susan Ryan, Terry Martinez, Ann Rollo, Melissa Golden, Patti Callahan, Erna Coon; Jay Woolford, trustee. Grace Chiang, architect, was also present.
New members Patti Callahan, alumnae representative, and Erna Coon, staff representative, were welcomed. The committee is not yet complete; two faculty members will be elected by April 6. President Ryerson will also appoint a member and a trustee.
Minute taking was discussed, and it will be done on a rotating basis. A schedule will be drawn up before the next meeting. Co-chairs Michael Groth and Scott Heinekamp and Dean Hall set the agenda for this meeting. Future agendas will be determined by APPC in conjunction with Dean Hall and President Ryerson.
Moved by Jay Woolford, seconded by Grace Chiang, the minutes of March 14, 2001, were approved with no changes. Passed unanimously. Jay commended Scott for a job well done and noted that he had caught the essence of the meeting. The minutes will be posted on the Website for public viewing, and it will be important that they are always accurate.
It was agreed that the first two bolded questions on the agenda would be addressed first in a brainstorming format: (1) How could the campus be better utilized as a whole, and (2) What are the current glaring campus-wide facility issues.
Scott began the discussion and stated that his comments would be made as if no Master Plan existed. All agreed this would be a good model to follow for the ensuing conversation. Scott feels one of the biggest current issues is the overlapping of pedestrian walkways, traffic patterns, and the highway approach to the college. Questions on the current parking policy were answered, i.e. where the parking lots are located and who is allowed to park in them. Susan Ryan stated that because the tentative site for the new science building is the Macmillan parking lot, there are some short-term plans in place to help alleviate this problem.
The discussion moved to the "isolated places" created on the Wells campus by the perceived physical and psychological barriers to moving around. Because Macmillan houses classrooms, administrative offices, and the majority of faculty offices, it is seen as the hub of activity. Macmillan is perceived as campus within itself, and the general feeling is that the important events take place there. For whatever reasons, students and faculty in other buildings do not make the effort to go to Macmillan. It may be because it is not a centralized location and "up the hill."
The lack of a dynamic student center is also part of the problem. It was hoped the Sommer Center would serve this purpose, but it has not happened. From a student’s perspective, Melissa stated that it works well for evening events (speakers, dances, etc.), but during the day it is a large, empty, and standoffish space. There is nothing to draw students there, and most of them hang out in their dorms. The idea of housing the mailroom and an information center in Sommer Center was entertained, as well as including the snack bar in the meal plan. The Fitness Center is another underused space, mainly because it is on yet another hill and away from everything else. There is also limited use of the boathouse and lake. Ellen spoke of an underground tunnel one college built to facilitate student use of college facilities and talked about how Ithaca College had built "transition" areas to make going up and down hills more friendly. The idea of buying electric scooters for disabled students was briefly discussed. Ellen commented on the need for comfortable faculty spaces and how investing in new office furnishings would be a quick payback.
Referring back to outside spaces and the lake, it was noted that there are only three benches on campus, limiting the use of spaces with a lake view. Ann Rollo had suggested using underutilized spaces for Reunion 2000, including Long/Campbell/Barler courtyard(s). Although this specific location was rejected, the AA field and Macmillan Circle were used. For Reunion 2001, Ann is planning to continue to utilize these two spaces and to include the lakefront space this year as well. Ann also suggested that cleaning up the lawn and beach area next to the boathouse would be a worthy town/gown project, since the village uses this area for their community swim program. A gazebo in the area might be attractive. In concluding the conversation, there was some discussion on community use of other Wells facilities and public spaces, and the consensus was that it is minimal. An outdoor recreation program with cross-country skiing and hiking trails might benefit both the students and community and open up the campus.
Dean Hall and Erna Coon are in the process of setting of Macmillan 317 as a meeting and resource room. There are currently three notebooks available to the community housed in there: one includes material dedicated to the science building, another the existing conditions study report, and the third relates primarily to academic planning. The classroom utilization study done by the architects will be added shortly, as well as the notebook developed by the Critical Issues Action Committee, which contains valuable research and background material.
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 18, at 11:30 a.m., hopefully in Macmillan 217. Any agenda thoughts should be sent to Scott and Michael.
Because of the tight timeline for the science building, there will be a need for this committee to meet during the summer months. The plan is for fewer but longer meetings.
Meeting adjourned at 12:35 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Erna Coon, secretary pro tem