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The purpose of the Campus Expansion Plan is to assess and provide a planning framework for the College's immediate and long-range space needs that is sufficiently flexible to accommodate continual change.

Process for Developing the Campus Expansion Plan

Otis has enjoyed steady growth for more than a decade, leading to a vibrant educational experience for our students but also serious constraints on our physical environment. In 2012, the College embarked on a process that resulted in a plan for meeting immediate and long-range space needs on the main Goldsmith Campus.

The architecture firms of Ehrlich Architects and Frederick Fisher and Partners (the Planning Team) jointly developed the Campus Expansion Plan. The process of developing the plan involved providing a holistic overview and thorough analysis of how Otis' physical environment supports and enables the pedagogical vision of the College, and identifying optimal development strategies.

A Campus Expansion Planning Steering Committee (the Steering Committee), including two Trustees, the President, the Vice President for Administrative and Financial Services, the Vice President for Institutional Advancement, the Vice Provost, and the Vice President for Enrollment Management, along with all Senior Team/Division and Department/Area leaders, worked closely with the architectural team in this process. Campus community input from interested faculty, staff, and students was sought via survey and a Campus Expansion Plan Blog forum (see link above).

The Campus Expansion planning process included four overlapping and related steps:

  • Facilities Data Collection and Review
  • Functional Program Development
  • Carrying Capacity Analysis
  • Expansion Plan Options

Facilities Data Collection and Review

The Planning Team reviewed available documentation, suggested additional technical input as necessary, and developed the background material necessary for the planning effort. This critical step familiarized the Planning Team with the present conditions and usage of the campus and its facilities. The result was an overview of existing facilities including academic space, administrative space, student services space, recreation space, and/or facilities support space.

An important aspect of this phase of the work was to map the present space usage patterns for all existing facilities and an associated assessment of the quality of these spaces for the purposes being used.

Functional Program Development

Through both discussions with the Steering Committee, survey instruments, and a series of on-campus workshops, the Planning Team developed a list of required and desired program elements and provided quantitative and qualitative analysis about current and future space needs.

Nine on-campus workshops involved the following affinity groups:

  1. Graduate Programs
  2. Undergraduate Programs I—Fashion Design, Product Design, Toy Design
  3. Undergraduate Programs II—Architecture/Landscapes/Interiors, Communication Arts, Digital Media, Fine Arts
  4. Undergraduate Core—Continuing Education, Foundation, Integrated Learning, Interdisciplinary Studies, Liberal Arts and Sciences
  5. Academic Support Services—Academic Computing, Gallery, Library, Technical Support Services

College-Wide

  1. Enrollment Management—Admissions, Financial Aid, Registration and Records, Student Affairs
  2. Senior Team—Administrative and Financial Services, Human Resources and Development, Enrollment Management, Institutional Advancement, President, Provost's Office
  3. Administrative Support Services—Business Office, Communications, Facilities and Operations, Information Systems, Purchasing and Student Accounts
  4. Campus Life—Faculty, Staff, and Student leaders, Public Presence, and Student Success (focused on campus needs such as exterior spaces, auditorium, food services, student housing, lounge spaces, etc.).

Sr Team affinity grp

Affinity group workshop 7.

affinity workshop

Affinity group workshop 2.