Partnership Affairs Division

Campus Planning Task Force

Meeting Summary - November 19, 2003

The first meeting of the Campus Planning Task Force was a rousing success! About half of the 22 participants were from the community at large, including representatives from the City of Brownsville and SPI.

Our two facilitators did a fantastic job by moving the discussion along, engaging the participants, and keeping us focused.

The meeting commenced with introductions by each participant. The goal for the Task Force was then reviewed, which is:

Revise the campus facilities master plan to include facilities needed to fulfill the mission in the next 2-5 years and beyond incorporating ITEC Campus, The Village, Jacob Brown properties into the master plan.

This was followed by a small group activity during which the participants discussed and listed their responses to the following questions:

What do you like most about UTB/TSC facilities?
What is most important for you to include in the next Master Plan for the year 2020?
What about the campus you do not like?

The groups then reported the highlights of their discussions. The reports were quite spirited and reflected the participants' interest and enthusiasm for the topic.

A brief overview of the current facilities master plan was presented and discussed.

The Futures Commission and Campus Planning Task Force web pages were demonstrated, along with a chat room which will allow communication among all participants. The various methods for communicating with staff and among the participants were explained (web page, email, phone, and fax). Any participant who does not have email access was encouraged to contact staff so that we could help them get connected.

Representatives of 3D-I, one of the architectural firms that submitted a proposal to help us revise our master plan, were introduced. They were there to listen and learn.

The Task Force was asked to complete the following activities before the next session:

Review the campus master plans
Tour Campus and visit buildings
Lunch at Student Union
Visit Jacob Brown, ITEC Campus and The Village
Review and comment on the Campus Values

The next meeting was set for January 13, at 6:00 p.m., Student Union, Gardenia Room.

Meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.