Auraria Higher Education Center

Community College of Denver Metropolitan State University of Denver

Case Study

Auraria Campus Neighborhood Planning LOCATION

Denver,

CO

|

DATES

2015

-

2016

|

SIZE

2,519,410

SF

(127

acres)

Master planning for a tri-institutional higher ed campus TYPE Higher Education

CHALLENGE | Develop individual master plans for three institutions of higher education occupying a shared campus that coordinate with the larger campus vision.

SERVICES Needs Assessment Data Analysis Stakeholder Engagement Visioning Master Planning

CONTEXT | The State of Colorado built the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) in 1976 as tri-institutional campus for the Community College of Denver (CCD), Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSUD), and University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver). The downtown Denver campus is a unique model for higher education that minimizes overhead through shared resources.

The 2012 Strategic Implementation Plan established the concept of institutional neighborhoods to strengthen each school’s mission and identity while optimizing shared use of facilities. To execute on the plan, each institution needed a roadmap for short-term projects and long-term goals that synced with the larger campus vision. Š 2017 MKThink

APPROACH | The project team collected quantitative and qualitative data to understand each institution’s culture and positioning on campus.

ALLAN DONNELLY

Senior Strategist MKThink As the lead consultant, Allan led stakeholder engagement, assessed the current facilities, and designed the analytical framework to project the spaces needs for both client institutions.

Qualitative Data Collection • Online space use survey completed by 94 stakeholder • 37 department walkthroughs • Onsite interviews with 92 personnel • 4 focus groups representing students from each school • 6 visioning workshops with Campus Steering Committees Quantitative Data Collection • Master facilities database: space use, square footage, ownership, and allocation • Classroom utilization by building, week, day, and hour • Class scheduling data • Historic and projected enrollments and staffing Space needs were calculated using multivariate analysis and correlated to national institutional planning standards. Current space was compared against 5,- 10-, and 15-year projections.

KEVIN SEILER Facilities Director, CCD Kevin is in charge of master planning that will introduce facilities strategies to improve Community College of Denver’s community image and academic reputation.

ANALYTIC FINDINGS • Misalignment between instructional capacity and enrollment • Total classroom inventory: 54.5% utilization, 75% of the time • Small classroom inventory: 80% utilization, 50% of the time • Projected enrollment (2030): CCD: +1% | MSU +15% • Projected staff (2030): CCD: +8% | MSU +15% • CCD Need: 3,000 ASF instruction (1 classroom, 2 labs) • CCD Surplus: 13,000 ASF office • MSU Need: 23,000 SF instruction (3 classrooms, 9 labs) • MSU Projected Need: 257,000 ASF across all space types

AMY TABOR Facilities Planning Director RNL Architecture Amy oversees the firm’s predesign consulting services: space needs programming, facilities planning, and facilities master planning.

Auraria Higher Education Campus: Neighborhood Planning

© 2017 MKThink

MSUD: Projected FTE Student Enrollment Growth

Auraria Higher Education Campus: Neighborhood Planning

CCD: Projected FTE Student Enrollment Growth

© 2017 MKThink

MSUD: Projected Space Needs (ASF)

CCD: Projected Space Needs (ASF)

Projected Space Needs MSUD

STRATEGY | Analysis of class scheduling and facility allocation data informed alternatives to address space needs. The project team recommended the following strategies to address immediate space needs: 1. Optimize classroom scheduling and rightsize classrooms 2. Coordinate strategic and equitable facilities swaps 3. Consolidate departments with high ASF/FTE ratios to recapture a potential 6,000 ASF of office space Projections for 5-. 10-, and 15-year enrollment growth pointed to implementation priorities and longer term plans for renovations and new construction.

RESULT | MKThink delivered data-driven strategies to inform neighborhood master plans for CCD and MSU that coordinate with the overall campus visioning and development. The CCD and MSU neighborhood master plans are the foundation for the Campus Master Plan currently under development by RNL, MKThink’s project partner.

The Campus Master Plan will map out a phasing schedule for short-term solutions that streamline facilities swaps and space reallocations along with longer term planning strategies. The plan will also include urban planning recommendations to increase connections with the surrounding city and branding strategies to build the schools’ individual identities.

Auraria Higher Education Campus: Neighborhood Planning

© 2017 MKThink

Identity opportunities to increase CCD’s visibility in the city

Mid-term and long-term planning priorities

Auraria Higher Education Campus: Neighborhood Planning

Š 2017 MKThink

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