TERRE HAUTE — The Indiana State University board of trustees on Friday accepted a new campus master plan that will guide its facilities and land use for the next 15 to 20 years.
The plan calls for renovation of several academic facilities, upgrades to student housing and several new athletic facilities west of Third Street. It also calls for improvements in campus traffic patterns, particularly for first-time visitors.
The campus improvements will support redevelopment of the riverfront — called Riverscape — and support downtown revitalization.
“Despite the budget challenges we face, it is important that we keep a high-level vision of our institution’s future at the forefront of all we do,” ISU President Dan Bradley said in an e-mail letter to the university community. “The master plan will guide the physical direction of our campus and its impact on Terre Haute for the next 15 to 20 years.”
The plan is conceptual and will evolve, he said. While certain aspects may not be implemented, the tenets or philosophy used to develop the plan are not likely to change.
The facility plan is intended to benefit academic and extra-curricular programs, contribute to student success and help drive downtown and riverfront development, the president said.
The plan includes an expansion of the Health and Human Services Building to accommodate growth in nursing and health services programs; renovation of the former Terre Haute Federal Building to house the Donald W. Scott College of Business; renovation of 100-year-old Normal Hall — originally the university library — as a potential student academic success center; and a partnership with a developer to continue upgrades to student housing.
While the university has not yet estimated the cost of the plan, Bradley said most of the projects would be funded without state tax dollars, especially some of the initiatives he expects will be completed within the next five to 10 years.
Those include continued improvements to student housing as well as relocation of the track and field facilities to the riverbank. Moving the track would allow a more visible “campus gateway” to be constructed along U.S. 41.
The master plan also calls for the eventual construction of a new football stadium west of U.S. 41. That project is likely many years in the future, Bradley said.
ISU’s new master plan is available to download at its Web site: www.indstate.edu.
In separate action, trustees authorized the university to seek state approval to proceed with the Federal Building renovation, a project approved earlier this year by the Indiana General Assembly. The renovation will be paid for by $10 million in bonds eligible for state fee replacement and $10 million in private funding.
With the state’s dire economic financial picture, it’s not clear when state officials might give the project the final go-ahead.
“We just don’t know, with the state’s current budget situation, how quickly they would release it,” said Diann McKee, ISU vice president for business affairs.
Renovation can’t proceed until ISU receives the final approval, she said.
In other business:
n Trustees endorsed three new programs in the College of Nursing, Health, and Human Services in an effort to better meet the state’s health care worker shortage. The programs are a doctor in physical therapy, a doctor of nursing practice and a master of science in physician assistant studies. The programs also need approval by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
n Also, following a two-year review by the university’s human resources office and Mercer Consulting, trustees approved a new salary schedule aimed at providing a competitive and consistent job classification and compensation system. The schedule consolidates 30 separate pay grades into 16 grades.
Because of current budget limitations, the initial phase in implementing the new program establishes the ISU salary schedule at 80 percent of market rates and ensures that all employees receive the minimum salary within each pay grade.
n Trustees also approved a 6 percent increase in health insurance rates for university employees effective Jan. 1 in response to a 5.87 percent increase in the cost of claims and expenses.
Local & Bistate
Indiana State trustees accept new campus master plan
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