Capital Development & Strategic Vision Plan

The Capital Development and Strategic Vision Plan will shape Western Washington University’s campus vision for the next 10-15 years. It will drive decision-making regarding capital planning, development, campus open space, and infrastructure – in alignment with the university’s values, goals, and strategy. Given the conditions of our existing academic and administrative buildings on Western’s main campus, the current 10-year capital plan foresees that much of the development will be focused on renovation and modernization. The scope of the plan, as well as of any future projects and deliverables resulting from the plan, is limited to WWU’s current campus footprint, but it will consider opportunities for partnership and development beyond the main campus, including at satellite locations.

The work to build WWU’s Capital Development and Strategic Vision Plan began in the fall of 2023, and completion of the initial report is expected In December of 2024. The plan will be developed as a flexible living document as we expect that conditions and priorities will evolve over time.
 

Planning and development on Western’s campus are currently guided by the 2001 Institutional Master Plan (IMP), a zoning and regulatory document jointly created by the City of Bellingham and Western in accordance with the WWU Neighborhood Plan. The Capital Development and Strategic Vision Plan is not intended to replace the 2001 IMP but will serve as a foundation to determine whether a new master plan is needed. It will also support the further engagement and collaboration between WWU and the City of Bellingham to update campus land use regulations at the appropriate time. 

The plan will assess academic, programmatic and administrative space and facility needs across campus, study existing facilities for their suitability to meet these needs, and identify priorities to support Western’s mission, values, and strategic goals. It will establish a sequence for major projects, including building modernizations and new construction, and develop strategies for spaces that accommodate the relocation of programs, units, and other administrative functions as necessary to accomplish projects.

The plan is also needed to support accreditation and integrated budget processes and to ground planning efforts in the culture and conditions of its campus and communities. It will also be a valuable tool of communication to various stakeholders across campus about major project priorities, sequence, and synergies.
 

The project team began working with the President's Cabinet, Western's leadership teams, and Facilities Development and Operations on the discovery phase of the plan in August 2023. The discovery phase of the plan involves facilities and site analyses, as well as extensive outreach to solicit input from the campus community, including:

• President’s Cabinet
• Board of Trustees
• Facilities Development and Operations
• President's Sustainability Council
• Enrollment and Student Services leadership
• University Housing, Dining, and Student Union leadership,
• Athletics
• Colleges and Academic Units
• Council of Deans
• Faculty Senate
• ADEI student, faculty, and staff stakeholder groups and program representatives
• Associated Students
• Student body
• Okanagan Charter representatives
• Faculty and staff representatives
• Office of Institutional Effectiveness

A team of consultants and WWU’s project team will hold a series of meetings, workshops, and open houses, conduct an online survey, and use pop-ups and tabling at events. The heart of the planning effort will be in broad and varied stakeholder engagement, to supplement and expand on the background research and analysis into how WWU uses its facilities, to engender broad participation and transparency, and to anchor the deliverables of the Plan in WWU’s mission, values, vision, and goals.
 

During Winter Quarter of 2024, quantitative and qualitative analyses of data collected during the discovery phase, including the extensive outreach conducted within the WWU community, will help create ideas for development options and project evaluation criteria. 

During the spring and summer quarters, projects will be assessed against established criteria, and project priorities will be established, in consultation with all stakeholders and with Western's mission, vision, and goals always in mind.

The plan will continue to be refined through the summer and fall quarters, with completion expected in December of 2024.
 

Existing studies and plans that are current and relevant will help guide the process, including:

• WWU Strategic Plan 2018-2025
• 2001 Institutional Master Plan
• Sustainability/Climate Action Plan
• Okanagan Charter
• 2019 Campus Space Modeling Study
• 2005 WWU Neighborhood Plan
• 1997 Draft Comprehensive Campus Master Plan
• 2000 Campus Character Study
• Parking Master Plan Update
• Utilities Master Plan
• 2022 Heating Conversion Study
• 2014 STEM Space Needs Assessment
• Facility Condition Assessment
• 2005 South Campus Development Plan
• Housing and Dining Assessment

Through a Request for Qualifications process, the team of NAC Architecture, an award-winning architecture and planning firm, and Walker Macy, a highly experienced woman-owned landscape architecture, urban design, and planning firm, was chosen. Both firms share a commitment to holistic planning and design, based on extensive input from all stakeholder groups.

Interactive interviews with two qualified teams were held in May and designed to gauge each team’s effectiveness in 1) Integrating constituent feedback with Western’s mission, values, and facility needs, and 2) Planning, programming, and designing solutions that address and enhance ADEI principles.

The Committee felt that the NAC/Walker Macy team had strong team cohesion, and that their design for the interactive portion of the interviews was very effective at eliciting important insights from the Committee members. NAC/WM also showed strengths in translating ADEI principles into built environment solutions. Ultimately, it was the experience of NAC’s Project Manager and the team’s previous work together that swayed the Committee to select NAC/Walker Macy for recommendation to Vice President Lopes.