LINFIELD COLLEGE
PROPOSAL AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
FACILITIES MASTER PLAN ADDENDUM
12/4/06
John Hall, Jeff Mackay, Jeff Summers
PROPOSAL:
The college should complete an addendum to its Facilities Master Plan linking the existing document to new campus realities and strategic facility goals. We recommend the President assemble a facilities planning committee to identify strategic facilities issues and propose solution scenarios that could be included in the master plan addendum.
SUMMARY OF SUPPORTING ANALYSIS:
In May, 2001 the Trustees adopted a resolution, proposed by the Planning Council, to expand the McMinnville campus enrollment to 1750 FFTE (financial FTE) by fall 2009. The rationale for this increase was, in large part, to fund the expansion costs of the Keck Campus. Based on estimates from enrollment services and housing, a 1750 FFTE translates into approximately an 1830 student head count. Since 2001, the College’s enrollment has steadily grown and currently stands at 1697 FFTE and a 1750 head count. An important question is what impact additional enrollment growth will have on the College’s facilities and how the College should plan to respond to these impacts.
Classrooms and Labs
In 1998 the College commissioned Paulien and Associates to perform a classroom and lab space needs analysis for the McMinnville Campus. Paulien’s results indicated the College had a 982 assignable square foot (asf) surplus of classrooms and 8,631asf deficit in lab space. Extrapolations from the Paulien report to the fall of 2005 suggest the College should have added 2,127 asf in classrooms and 3,493 asf in lab space to accommodate the enrollment growth that has occurred since 1998. Current estimates suggest we are in rough balance with respect to classroom space. This has been achieved through the addition of new classroom spaces and introduction of a more efficient classroom scheduling system. Work is needed to determine how many additional classrooms will be needed to support further enrollment growth toward the 1750 FFTE goal.
The College has added no new science lab space since 1998. It is only through aggressive scheduling that we have been able to accommodate the additional student demand. As enrollment continues to approach the goal, it will become increasingly unlikely that demand for lab space can be met. How the College intends to respond to this fact in the next few years is an important strategic facilities question that must be addressed.
Faculty Office Space
As student enrollment increases, the faculty (whether full time, adjunct, or a combination) will need to grow in order to maintain a stable student-faculty ratio. The demand for office space will increase. How this demand will be met is an important strategic facilities question that must be addressed.
Student Housing
Housing capacity has increased over the years keeping pace with needs. The College is now near capacity. Additional housing will need to be constructed as enrollment grows to target. The need will be magnified if current dorm space in Pioneer and Memorial is eliminated in conjunction with upgrades to those structures. Housing needs must be planned for in a systematic fashion.
THE FACILITIES MASTER PLAN ADDENDUM:
The facilities planning challenges discussed above can be broadly classified two ways.
(1) Issues created by the desire to grow to a 1750 FFTE, such as the need for new classrooms and labs, new faculty and staff office space and additional housing.
(2) Issues centered on the maintenance of pedagogical excellence. These include the sequencing of the components of the science facilities project and modernization of aging classrooms.
3) Issues associated with administrative efficiencies including college record storage, and other types of storage needs on campus.
PROPOSED CHARGE:
The facilities planning committee should:
1. Identify classroom needs and interim ways of accommodating enrollment growth until suitable classroom space is fully developed.
2. Recommend mitigation alternatives for the lab space shortfall and identify the sequencing of component work for the science facilities project.
3. Determine how to best accommodate faculty office needs.
4. Propose housing options.
5. Consider ways of responding to other foreseeable needs created by enrollment growth – parking, storage, staff offices, etc.
6. Consider whether the 1750 FFTE enrollment goal makes sense in light of the potential costs identified in deliberations on 1. through 5. above.