Agenda

President Moore will discuss the interrelationship of strategic and campus plans. He will highlight changes that have occurred or are ongoing in the educational marketplace; discuss Lesley University's 100 year history, its unique educational profile, context, condition and location in the city of Cambridge; and expound upon campus planning's role in responding to this ever changing educational landscape. 

Provost Williams will discuss the University's educational profile. The enrollment and academic programmatic planning and development that he does, including undergraduate, graduate, adult learning, distance learning, global education, and e-learning, all have significant facility impacts. 

University Hall, a repurposed 1928 Sears Retail Store, typifies the uniqueness of Lesley University. A microcosm of Lesley's story, University Hall includes academic space (classrooms, science labs, art making), student services, student life, the home of its flagship college (the Graduate School of Education), office space, and retail space. 

A panel of Lesley and Art Institute of Boston students will discuss and reflect upon Lesley facilities, their importance in selecting Lesley, and how well they meet or miss expectations

Being located in the City of Cambridge adds an important facet to the University’s context. The City has an extensive process for review and approval of construction projects, which includes significant review and input from City departments involved in project planning. These departments include the City Council, Board of Zoning Appeals, Planning Board, Community Development, Inspectional Services and the Department of Public Works. City review is especially involved in the case of required special permits or variances. In addition, Cambridge neighborhoods are strong and the City process includes extensive input from residents who may be affected by a construction project. Lesley has embraced this public process, extending it to include Lesley faculty, staff, and students. The new dorm project completed in 2009 at 1 and 3 Wendell Street is an excellent example of how this collaborative process resulted in a “win/win” situation for the University and the neighborhood. Three members of the project team explain how the project developed, was completed and established working relationships for other projects, including the new Art Center planned for Porter Square.

Project and operational funding is a key contextual, institution-specific issue. Lesley, like many other institutions of Higher learning is not blessed by being “flush with money” and is very tuition dependent. Bernice Bradin, CFO, will present an overview of the Lesley financial story, providing campus planners with a better understanding of the different facets of financial support to be aware of that are specific to capital projects and institutional growth and change over time. She will address budgeting and forecasting, financial planning, project prioritization and phasing, and joint ventures with municipalities and other institutions to meet strategic plan initiatives. Bernice will touch on Lesley relationships with the Episcopal Divinity School, Buckingham Brown and Nichols, and the Lesley search for athletic facilities through strategic partnerships with municipalities.

Most institutions are good at executing projects. However, after project close-out, what do you do with resulting information (drawings, data, etc.) to support future growth and change? Lesley, like a lot of other institutions is struggling with efficiently handling facility information with limited resources for expensive technology and a large staff. The need for good facility information is imperative; not only for daily operations but also for understanding current conditions and supporting decisions as future strategic initiatives with facility requirements are created or occur. Matt Brownell will provide a brief overview of how Lesley Operations and Campus Planning is taking steps to address the ongoing problem of storing, accessing and utilizing facility information without breaking the bank. Discussion will follow with conference participants on how they deal with this ongoing issue.