In 2020, students should be in new buildings that we are in, see more than double the faces that we see and be on a campus that will look different than the one we walk on.
A master plan of facility updates, improvements and goals are all included in Vision 2020, which was created when President Kevin Eichner was new to the position.
Now, three years later, there are priorities, minor changes and future planning in mind for the Vision.
“So far there are no big changes in Vision 2020, we will have to fine tune things as we go along and we are looking at some revisions with different options,” Ottawa University President Kevin Eichner said.
Even though the five-year plan in Vision 2020 includes renovating the chapel, adding 260 or more parking spaces, creating a campus tower, building a new recreation center and more, Eichner said there are priorities.
“Right now our priorities are building a new library and student center,” Eichner said. “But every project takes money and time to make them a reality.”
Students have mixed feelings on the new prioritized projects.
“We have a union, what do we need a new one for?” senior Casey-Jack Kitos-Coppoc said.
“A new library is a good idea. It’s sinking so who knows how long it will last,” senior Laura Reed said. “But they need to focus on fundraising before talking about new construction.”
As far as classrooms go, there are some positives and negatives to where the college is right now.
“We definitely do not have a classroom shortage, we have plenty of room to grow in that area,” Eichner said.
“However, technology in the classrooms is needed.”
However, students in the classrooms may not agree that there is enough room.
“We do need more classrooms. In some larger classes, there are students standing,” Kitos-Coppoc said.
As far as plans for future growth, Eichner said there will be continuing development in the three schools; business, education and arts and sciences.
Even though the music department saw a big growth this year, Eichner said there are other areas that need building.
“We need to expand cross country and track and field and the biology department needs to grow as well as other areas of the college,” he said.
Eichner said there are other positives happening in different areas on campus.
“We doubled the target of presidential and provost scholars,” he said. “We are being very intentional about the mix of students, we want to focus on building the different classes of students.”
Even though there was a 15 percent increase in new students and strong retention, Eichner said there is still room to grow.
“We are not over capacity, we still have space if needed,” he said. “A new dorm would require around 650 to 660 students at the university before we would build. We need more beds, not a new dorm.”
Hitting the point that a new dorm would be needed would be on the way to hitting Eichner’s enrollment goal.
“We are still aiming for 1,500 students by 2020, we are very encouraged,” Ottawa University President Kevin Eichner said.
Even though Vision 2020 still has several years to be completed, some students may be skeptical about the process and when things get done.
“Talking about new buildings and what is in the plan is just going to get students’ hopes up,” Reed said.