Agenda for Sunday

Founded by the Texas Legislature in 1969, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) now has eight colleges and three campuses that offer access and opportunity to over 30,000 students in more than 130 degree programs. UTSA campuses include the Main Campus, which is located on two tracts of 600 and 125 acres each in the rolling hill country of northwest San Antonio; the Downtown Campus which is located on eighteen acres on the west side of downtown San Antonio; and the Hemisfair Park Campus, which includes the Institute of Texan Cultures located on the grounds of the 1968 Hemisfair in downtown San Antonio. The tour will feature a driving tour of the Downtown Campus and a walking tour of the Main Campus. Please note the walking portion of the tour includes several stairs. Please alert SCUP (karen.verhey@scup.org) if you have difficulty with stairs. 

The Downtown Campus includes four multi-purpose buildings on four contiguous downtown blocks arranged around a central circular plaza with concentric rows of red oaks. The Main Campus features five original buildings clustered around Sombrilla Plaza, a large open space for gathering that is covered with a monumental shade structure, thus making it one of the most unique open spaces on any college campus. The original campus master plan and buildings were designed by Ford, Powell and Carson Architects & Planners, the architectural firm of Texas’ most noted architect, O’Neil Ford. In the last decade new buildings constructed on the Main Campus include; the Biotechnology Sciences & Engineering Building and the Applied Engineering Technology Building, both of which provide research and teaching laboratories and classrooms for the Colleges of Engineering and Sciences. Also constructed have been facilities for student life, such as the Recreation and Wellness Center that includes gymnasiums, weight rooms, and a cardio area, and the University Center, which includes a 750 seat ballroom. 

Optional Event: Requires registration $35

Learning Outcomes:

1. Recognize how multiple locations for an urban campus require different approaches to design.
2. Review the long-term success of a master planning process that began in the 1960s.
3. Discuss ways to promote unique landscape features, such as mature tree canopies, as a key aspect of the campus experience.
4. Describe key features of facilities dedicated to the sciences and to student life.