uOttawa Campus Master Plan

[rocketphish]

University of Ottawa master plan puts campus vision on display

Little expansion into Sandy Hill anticipated, consultant says

By Alex Robinson
Ottawa East News, May 02, 2015



The University of Ottawa has plans to usher in major changes to its campus over the next 20 years to optimize its land and build green infrastructure.

University representatives presented a master plan outlining the changes to council’s planning committee at a meeting on April 28.

The plan will include restoring heritage buildings, building new ones and developing more green space and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure.

“We are a major post-secondary education institution in Canada and our intention is to make it look that way over the next 20 years,” said George Dark, of Urban Strategies, who is working with the university on the plan.

More than 80 per cent of the school’s 50,800 students, staff and teachers already do not use a car to the get to the university. The school expects to boost that percentage higher, with the expansion of the city’s LRT system.

“By virtue of having this system developed all across the city is the university can also decant itself over the city,” Dark said.

One of the proposed pieces of green infrastructure will be converting a parking lot near one of its social science buildings into an open green space for pedestrians. Trees will be planted along King Edward Avenue, which the university hopes to better integrate into its campus by redeveloping property and installing a park along it.

The University of Ottawa is also looking to build more bike and pedestrian friendly pathways along the Rideau River, in the southern part of its campus.

The vision fits within the city’s current official plan and zoning bylaws, meaning any part of it would only require a site plan approval to move ahead.

Dark said the university has few plans to expand further into Sandy Hill.

“The aspirations to continue to build in Sandy Hill are almost non-existent with the exception along Henderson,” he said.

Barrhaven Coun. Jan Harder, who serves as the planning committee chairwoman, heralded the plan to build an open green square, where a parking lot currently is.

“What you’re doing with your parking lot x is very much what they’re doing in Stockholm, Denver, Arlington and Seattle and it’s great to see it happening here,” she said. “It’s such a benefit.”

Councillors also asked about the school’s plans for housing.

University officials said they expect to bring 1,000 new residence spaces online by the end of the summer with the construction of new buildings and the conversion of a hotel on King Edward Avenue.

The university has worked on the master plan for more than two years, holding a number of public consultations to develop it with residents, students and staff.

http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/n...on-on-display/

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

The construction of the new plaza replacing parking lot X and the new Learning Centre Building are both supposed to commence construction on June 8,2015.

It is being said that the new plaza will sometimes be used for outdoor convocations for as many as 2000 students at a time.

They are designing some kind of roof that can be put up to protect attendees from rain and then removed.

[rocketphish]

Province quashes Ottawa universities' expansion proposals

David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: May 20, 2015, Last Updated: May 20, 2015 11:33 AM EDT



Expansion proposals from the University of Ottawa, Carleton University and La Cité college are all dead, with the provincial government’s announcement Wednesday that it will only fund one new campus anywhere in Ontario — a new site for York University in Toronto’s northeastern suburbs.

When the province asked Ontario’s colleges and universities for proposals for major growth projects last year, the University of Ottawa had the boldest one from the schools in the capital: A new campus for French-speaking students in Woodstock, to serve the tens of thousands of francophones in southwestern Ontario who have hardly any options for post-secondary education in French. It even had a preliminary agreement for support from the town.

The U of O also asked for a new health-science building to be built in Ottawa. Carleton proposed a new health-studies building of its own and a new headquarters for its business programs, plus support for course offerings in Cornwall and Niagara Falls. La Cité wanted to work with Sudbury’s Collège Boréal on a French-language trades-training centre in Toronto.

Those proposals will not be getting the go-ahead. Belinda Bien, a spokeswoman for Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Reza Moridi, said the government had been prepared to approve as many as three projects but ultimately only the one from York University made the cut.

“We were very transparent about the criteria that each proposal would need to meet,” Bien said. The callout said the province was after big ideas, plans for buildings and programs that could start with 1,000 new students and grow to between 5,000 and 10,000 of them across multiple disciplines.

By that standard, most of the proposals out of Ottawa were long shots. Bien said Moridi offered all the unsuccessful applicants briefings with the ministry to discuss in what ways they fell short.

The York proposal is for a 4,000-student campus jointly run with Seneca College, with classes in business, arts and social sciences. The announcement said it was the unanimous first choice among the panel of top civil servants who evaluated 13 finalists.

The government does plan to solicit a second round of proposals in 2016. This time, though, it’s only interested in ideas for Toronto’s western suburbs in the regions of Peel and Halton, which have some of the fastest-growing populations of young adults in Ontario.

dreevely@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/davidreevely

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...sion-proposals

[MoreTrains]

Of course they can get a higher number of students, theyre offering Arts, statistically the largest (and usually least useful) faculty. Clearly the province wasnt thinking with the future in mind. I would have looked at any proposition with health sciences, engineering and sciences in it as the corner stone.

Oh well.

[1overcosc]

Originally Posted by MoreTrains

Of course they can get a higher number of students, theyre offering Arts, statistically the largest (and usually least useful) faculty. Clearly the province wasnt thinking with the future in mind. I would have looked at any proposition with health sciences, engineering and sciences in it as the corner stone.

Oh well.

That new Markham university is "business, arts, and social sciences" according to the article.

The government is generally suppressing the addition of more B.A. spaces in favour of other degrees (at Queen's, the university was denied permission from the province to add an additional 150 B.A spaces, but was allowed increases in B.Comm, B.Cmp, and B.Eng spaces).

I would assume that the Markham campus is probably a relocation of B.A spaces from York main instead, with a healthy amount of B.Comm and B.Sc. (In Ontario, psychology and geography can be B.Sc programs even though they count as social sciences).

[1overcosc]

There's also a major shortage of university spaces in the GTA. The GTA has half the population of Ontario, but IIRC something like 70% of Ontario's university spaces are outside the GTA. Hence the massive number of GTA students who go to school in Kingston, London, and Kitchener-Waterloo.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

That new Markham university is "business, arts, and social sciences" according to the article.

The government is generally suppressing the addition of more B.A. spaces in favour of other degrees (at Queen's, the university was denied permission from the province to add an additional 150 B.A spaces, but was allowed increases in B.Comm, B.Cmp, and B.Eng spaces).

I would assume that the Markham campus is probably a relocation of B.A spaces from York main instead, with a healthy amount of B.Comm and B.Sc. (In Ontario, psychology and geography can be B.Sc programs even though they count as social sciences).

^^^^This is probably true.

The major problem it creates for uOttawa is with the Faculty of Health Sciences. This faculty includes a number of disciplines, but the School of Nursing is likely the largest one.

Most of the School of Nursing is housed in the old buildings at Lees. These buildings were cheaply built over 40 years ago. They are shoddy and engineering studies have indicated they are not worth renovating for long term use . They will soon have to go. UOttawa will have to find new space or Ottawa could lose its only B.S.N. program and Ontario its only bilingual B.S.N. program.

Ottawa's recent submission for Provincial funds under the program mentioned above was only one of 19 proposals. It was a long shot that Ottawa's proposal would be the one chosen. uOttawa had to know that.

I am guessing there are other avenues they are exploring, such as grants from Health Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Health for health infrastructure ,as well as health NGOs and private donors.

The Faculty of Health Sciences is integrated with the teaching hospitals such as the UO Heart Institute , Ottawa Hospital. CHEO, Royal Ottawa , Montfort and they all need up-to-date facilities and equipment to provide the region with excellent health care. Medical care providers learn their professions on the uOttawa campus and by work-study placements at the teaching hospitals.
A solution for bringing the Faculty of Health Sciences facilities up to proper standards is a necessity.

[1overcosc]

The province has a $50M/year fund just launched last year specifically for university projects that address problems stemming from aging infrastructure (covers both repair & rehab of old buildings as well as new buildings meant to replace old ones), so uOttawa will probably go there for the money.

[acottawa]

Nice to see province giving some thought to slowing the excessive growth of universities. That Woodstock thing had to be about the worst idea ever.

[c_speed3108]

A lot of the school of nursing is at Guindon Hall. I believe they are using some office space at 200 Lees but I don't believe the lions share is there - probably just mostly overflow.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

A lot of the school of nursing is at Guindon Hall. I believe they are using some office space at 200 Lees but I don't believe the lions share is there - probably just mostly overflow.

There are a lot more than offices for nursing there. There are labs and simulated hospital rooms of various types for training.

See this comment by nursing student Julie made to the people developing the Master Plan.

Lees campus is ugly, not all the water fountains are potable, and it smells weird. There is also no place for nursing students to change, despite the school’s request that we (a) wear scrubs to lab, and (b) do not wear them anywhere else.

There is study space at Lees, which is nice.

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

There are a lot more than offices for nursing there. There are labs and simulated hospital rooms of various types for training.

See this comment by nursing student Julie made to the people developing the Master Plan.

Interesting. That must of have been caused by growth, since none of their other buildings have been closed or are under renovation. Their teaching staff is certainly all at RGN so far as I can tell.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

Interesting. That must of have been caused by growth, since none of their other buildings have been closed or are under renovation. Their teaching staff is certainly all at RGN so far as I can tell.

You must be right about the growth of the health sciences faculty causing the old buildings to be used. You know the original plan was to use the Lees Buildings as swing space until the end of 2012. Then shut them down. Then start demolishing and put up new buildings when the money was available. Now it looks like they have decided they have to keep using them indefinitely until some money becomes available.

It has long been a complaint of students and staff that they were forced to waste valuable hours commuting back and forth to the various locations that health sciences are scattered among.

They decided a while back to make the staff do most of the travelling to lessen how much the students have to do.

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

You must be right about the growth of the health sciences faculty causing the old buildings to be used. You know the original plan was to use the Lees Buildings as swing space until the end of 2012. Then shut them down. Then start demolishing and put up new buildings when the money was available. Now it looks like they have decided they have to keep using them indefinitely until some money becomes available.

It has long been a complaint of students and staff that they were forced to waste valuable hours commuting back and forth to the various locations that health sciences are scattered among.

They decided a while back to make the staff do most of the travelling to lessen how much the students have to do.

Lees has been a real puzzle since they bought it. The first plan was the reno and put the Faculty of Education out there. It was a good strategic purchase but definitely something of a puzzle for what to do until money is available.

As an aside the University got another big donation from Ian Telfer: http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...sity-of-ottawa

[Vanier]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

There are a lot more than offices for nursing there. There are labs and simulated hospital rooms of various types for training.

See this comment by nursing student Julie made to the people developing the Master Plan.

Health Sciences is an archipelago of sites: RGN, Lees, and main campus (Montpetit, Thompson, Louis Pasteur). Further, they have to share all their venues: with Medicine at RGN, with Sports Services at Montpetit, with Housing at Thompson.... They need to consolidate in a manner similar to FSS.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

A quote from a recent entry on the President's blog.

We aim to raise $400 million by 2020, and we are well on our way, with close to $160 million already in hand

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Province quashes Ottawa universities' expansion proposals

David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: May 20, 2015, Last Updated: May 20, 2015 11:33 AM EDT



Expansion proposals from the University of Ottawa, Carleton University and La Cité college are all dead, with the provincial government’s announcement Wednesday that it will only fund one new campus anywhere in Ontario — a new site for York University in Toronto’s northeastern suburbs.

When the province asked Ontario’s colleges and universities for proposals for major growth projects last year, the University of Ottawa had the boldest one from the schools in the capital: A new campus for French-speaking students in Woodstock, to serve the tens of thousands of francophones in southwestern Ontario who have hardly any options for post-secondary education in French. It even had a preliminary agreement for support from the town.

The U of O also asked for a new health-science building to be built in Ottawa. Carleton proposed a new health-studies building of its own and a new headquarters for its business programs, plus support for course offerings in Cornwall and Niagara Falls. La Cité wanted to work with Sudbury’s Collège Boréal on a French-language trades-training centre in Toronto.

Those proposals will not be getting the go-ahead. Belinda Bien, a spokeswoman for Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Reza Moridi, said the government had been prepared to approve as many as three projects but ultimately only the one from York University made the cut.

“We were very transparent about the criteria that each proposal would need to meet,” Bien said. The callout said the province was after big ideas, plans for buildings and programs that could start with 1,000 new students and grow to between 5,000 and 10,000 of them across multiple disciplines.

By that standard, most of the proposals out of Ottawa were long shots. Bien said Moridi offered all the unsuccessful applicants briefings with the ministry to discuss in what ways they fell short.

The York proposal is for a 4,000-student campus jointly run with Seneca College, with classes in business, arts and social sciences. The announcement said it was the unanimous first choice among the panel of top civil servants who evaluated 13 finalists.

The government does plan to solicit a second round of proposals in 2016. This time, though, it’s only interested in ideas for Toronto’s western suburbs in the regions of Peel and Halton, which have some of the fastest-growing populations of young adults in Ontario.

dreevely@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/davidreevely

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...sion-proposals

I was at uOttawa for a reception yesterday. The article above states that the province "quashed" uOttawa's plans for a satellite campus in Woodstock and the building of a new Health Sciences Building. It is only partly right.
The HSB was not on the table. uOttawa already has this building in their capital budget. It will be the next major capital project for the university.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

The uOttawa campus has been quite a mess for the last couple of years due to construction.

2018 is a banner year in moving ahead on the 20 year Campus Master Plan.
This year we will see:

The official opening of The Learning Crossroads which is now partly open.
The Stem Building opening.
Arts Court with its uOttawa Component.
The LRT with stations at the uOttawa and Lees campuses.
The Annex Residence on Laurier near the campus.

What is next? Hard to say. A new Faculty of Health Sciences Building has long been pushed back in favour of the Learning Crossroads and Stem. There are ongoing committee meetings happening now about getting it done. There is a feasibility study being done on building a major new athletic facility. The Annex brings the roster of university managed residence beds to 4900. They have set a goal of reaching 6000 soon.

Perhaps two birds can be killed with one stone as per this suggestion from the Campus Master Plan:

• Study the feasibility and potential programming of a mixed-use development at the southeast corner of Mann and Lees that combines a residence with an athletics/recreational facility.

[kevinbottawa]

Originally Posted by LeadingEdgeBoomer

What is next?

It would be nice to see them execute on their vision for King Edward. In the vision document it looks like a proper main street. I'd love to see them make this a priority.

[LeadingEdgeBoomer]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Maybe they could get moving on King Eddy by putting the Faculty of Health Science in buildings along it.

I really like the transparent tree shown in the rendering. Those physics guys working in the ARC are making marvellous strides!