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University drafts 2010 Master Plan

Published: Sunday, July 26, 2009

Updated: Sunday, July 26, 2009 16:07

master plan

Caitlin Bush

UCF shed some light on its future spending plans at the Campus Master Plan public hearing on July 16.

Among other points, the presentation touched on increasing on-campus housing and expanding athletics facilities.

Academic Village has a little more than 6,000 beds, and expects to add 840 more.
The empty fraternity houses in Greek Park were also discussed as "special interest housing," as well as Greek Park II, but no details were provided.

According to the 2010 UCF Draft Master Plan, major updates are included for UCF Athletics.

The document cited a new academic support facility located in the northeast corner of campus.

According to the document, the building will serve all student-athletes participating in intercollegiate athletics.

An intercollegiate tennis center on the north end of campus is also planned, as well as a phased expansion of Jay Bergman Field, UCF's baseball stadium.

A clubhouse for UCF's intercollegiate soccer and track programs and additional dedicated field space for baseball, softball and soccer are also part of the plan.

According to the document, UCF is also considering an expansion to Bright House Networks Stadium.

"We are required by a Florida statute to develop a campus master plan," said Assistant Director of Facilities Planning James Davis.

The Draft Campus Master Plan 2010 edition lists the executive summary first, followed by 17 sub-headings that include all potential areas for growth on campus.

Each sub-heading has a link for the goals, objectives and policies followed with a link for data and analysis.

Some sub-headings have a link for maps pertaining to the sub-heading.

"It is a projection of where we will be in 5 to 10 years as a campus," said UCF News & Information spokesman Grant Heston.

The school is also required by law to inform the community of the Campus Master Plan by holding public information sessions on campus.

"It is a public process where we engage the community," Heston said. "We seek their input."

UCF hosted the first public hearing on the 2010-2020 Campus Master Plan on July 16 at 6 p.m. in the Harris Corporation Engineering Center.

Thirty-nine people signed in for the meeting and six filled out comment cards.
"We only had a handful of comments," Davis said.

The comment cards, which can be accessed online at the Master Plan Web site, are almost all positive.

"This plan is very anti-climatic," David said. "There is nothing really that should stick in anyone's claw."

On Wednesday, the plan was sent to agencies to review and comment including Orange and Seminole counties, the cities of Orlando and Oviedo, St. Johns River Water Management District and East Central Florida Regional Planning Council.
 

The Florida departments of Community Affairs, Environmental Protection and Transportation were also sent the campus master plan in addition to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
 

These groups, along with the public, have 90 days to review the plan and comment.
According to the Campus Master Plan schedule, the second public hearing and adoption by the Board of Trustees will be on Nov. 19.
 

"Hopefully from there it will get approved," Davis said.
 

From Nov. 19 the public has 30 days to file petitions and objections.
 

These formal complaints can only reference previous comments made within the 90-day period, Davis said.
 

No new information can be petitioned or objected during that time period.
 

From there, UCF will negotiate the campus development agreement with Orange County. 
UCF staff develops the plan for approximately three months prior to its release to the public.
 

"We look back and see what we projected and where we are and where we need to go," Davis said. "We try to include as much stuff that are possibilities on it."
 

Possibilities for future increases are very limited due to the economy, Davis said.
 

"The only construction that we are doing is on stuff that has been a part of the plan for a long time because we don't have any new funds for new projects," Davis said.
 

All of the Campus Master Plan documents are available in PDF format and can be found online at www.fp.ucf.edu/mp2010/.
 

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12 comments

To "Your Name"
Wed Jul 29 2009 16:00
You should read up and do research before posting. Money for projects as large in scale as the performing arts center were put in motion long before the budget cuts. This building has been reasearched, planned, and put into motion per what the Master Plan said. Next time check your facts before posting ignorant things.
Your name
Tue Jul 28 2009 22:37
Wow this is great spend more money on crap... build a performing arts center meanwhile will cut degree programs. What a bunch of Idiots... no wonder this university is nicknamed U Can't Finish.
Your name
Tue Jul 28 2009 21:30
*were* not *Where*. I should spell check before I press submit.
Your name
Tue Jul 28 2009 16:37
Just the facts,

Those come from the GPAs that were presented to the UCF student body when they were deciding which majors to cut. The GPAs where categorized by majors, and none of the average GPAs per major where below 3.2.

Just the facts....
Tue Jul 28 2009 16:04
I'm not quite sure where the various GPA numbers are coming from. However, currently the average undergraduate GPA for Spring 2009 at UCF was a 2.905 while the All Greek average GPA for Spring 2009 was a 3.042.
guy responding to another dumb person
Tue Jul 28 2009 10:57
.4 points lower is something that people can surrender if they become involved on campus and become a student leader. Its also something someone can surrender when they meet a large group of motivated people and learn the social and networking skills that the "average" student may not have the opportunity to learn.
Your name
Mon Jul 27 2009 22:29
unless you're in some whack frat like fiji you're probably an idiot.
Your name
Mon Jul 27 2009 17:53
The ~average~ student involved in Greek life has a GPA around .4 points lower than a student who is not involved in Greek life.
Guy responding to dumb person
Mon Jul 27 2009 16:36
Dear "No to Greek Park 2"

How very naive you are. While granted there are some not-so-bright individuals in UCF Greek Life, it is also a SWEEPING generalization. There are students ranging from undergrad, to Ph.D. who are, or have been, a part of Greek life. I would list all the different presidents, CEO's, inventors, etc... who have been a part of Greek Life and succeeded, but that wouldn't be a good use of time. Greek Park II is a worthwhile cause, it will create more on-campus housing, more meeting space for the organizations, free up cubicle space within the Office of Student Involvement, and much more. Not to mention that Greeks, even with their small percentage on campus, have a MAJOR role in on-campus leadership ranging from OSI, SGA, Welcome Week, Undergraduate Admisssions etc... And even beyond all that, some of the largest donors to this campus have been past Greek life members. So despite your hilarious (and believe me thats sarcasm at its finest) rant about GPA and hotdogs in butts, you my friend (again sarcasm at its finest) are making major generalizations about a group of people that you obviously know nothing about, and should probably stop speaking about. It would be best if you stopped by a diversity training session put on by our Office of Diversity Initiatives and they can discuss why generalizing groups of people is wrong. Oh and while you are there you should speak to some of the Greek students working and volunteering in the office about how "dumb" we all are.

Chris M.
Mon Jul 27 2009 09:00
I don't care about Greek park II i think its probably better for the community so we can have these fraternities on campus and responsible for their actions as opposed to having them in the greek ghetto where we have to assume that the OPD or OCPD will handle it...

However, why are we spending money on tennis facilities and soccer facilities and expanding BHNS when we just cut 4 very good programs from our schools offered majors! Don't get me wrong I love Knights games of any sport and as an alumni I come to as many as i can. However, if we strive to be a quality institution we need to have all majors available that the student body demands and we need to fund the academic institution on the athletics dept.

No to Greek Park 2
Mon Jul 27 2009 00:12
Gasp. It's spreading. *butts*
No to Greek Park 2
Sun Jul 26 2009 23:50
I am VERY against Greek park 2. This is pandering the the dumbest people at UCF and it inhibits our ability to become a quality institution. These kids are like rabid monkeys spreading the disease of stupidity. How many more national "incidents" from these idiots do we need before we realize this?

The average GPA at UCF is around a 3.4 when the average Greek GPA is around a 3.0. Do we want more grade inflation? Do we want more frat kids being found with hotdogs up their buts by cops? No and NO!







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