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Campus Master Plan is blueprint for decade of bold growth

Campus Master Plan is blueprint for decade of bold growth

20 FOR 2020

A YEAR-END SERIES OF ARTICLES ABOUT UTSA'S BOLD FUTURE


JANUARY 10, 2020Editor’s note: President Taylor Eighmy addressed the planning framework for developing UTSA's campuses to support a projected student enrollment of 45,000. The UT System Board of Regents approved the plan on Nov. 15. [First published Nov. 11, 2019]

In June 2018, UTSA launched the Campus Master Plan Initiative to guide the physical growth of our university over the next decade in alignment with our academic mission and strategic priorities.


The Campus Master Plan will serve as a living document as we begin the next phases of our campus development, and future phases, as well.



I had the honor to lead the Campus Master Plan Task Force, a representative group of university leadership and internal stakeholders. Our charge was a bold one: to create a planning framework for developing the campuses to support a projected student enrollment of 45,000—in alignment with our destinations to be a Model for Student Success, a Great Public Research University, and an Exemplar for Strategic Growth and Innovative Excellence—while simultaneously integrating best practices of sustainability, enhancing our natural resources and enriching the culture of the campuses and surrounding communities.

I am excited today to share the Campus Master Plan final draft with you.

This plan was created in consultation with the design firm Page and is the culmination of a broad, deep and highly collaborative engagement process involving UTSA staff, faculty, students, alumni and community members. Over the yearlong planning process, thousands of stakeholders provided input on the plan’s guiding principles and design iterations through individual interviews, targeted focus groups and committee meetings, on- and off-campus forums, and a comprehensive online survey.

The Campus Master Plan presents several key ideas for Main Campus:

  • Introduce a signature open space, the Via Verde, in the center of campus.
  • Establish a Southeastern Gateway mixed-use district for students that facilitates public-private partnerships.
  • Create a true campus loop road to ease vehicular congestion and promote pedestrian circulation.
  • Better utilize Park West Campus for specific athletics and recreation facilities.

Because of its unique environment, plans for the Downtown Campus were developed with a distinct set of planning principles: promote community partnerships; embrace San Antonio’s urban environment, including its unique arts and culture; enhance pedestrian connections to surrounding areas and connect campus facilities; and create a complete, comprehensive UTSA campus. Key plan ideas for the Downtown Campus reflect those principles:

  • Embrace a distributed urban campus model and expand to surrounding blocks
  • Create physical and programmatic points of entry to connect the campus to the community, including the Westside as part of UTSA’s Westside Community Partnerships Initiative, as part of our commitment as a Hispanic-serving institution.

In total, the plan calls for adding nearly 5.3 million gross square feet of new space to accommodate the growth in campus population and the university’s projected academic and research priorities; these new buildings and features would be constructed over many years to come, as funding and resources allow. In addition to addressing space deficits and associated infrastructure needs, the plan also embraces a number of commitments accordant with UTSA’s role as an urban-serving university:

  • Share facilities with our neighbors.
  • Promote a welcoming environment for the local community.
  • Increase and improve open space.
  • Promote cultural heritage and art.
  • Provide in-community learning experiences.
  • Support local businesses and organizations.
  • Become a leader in sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Once approved by the UT System Board of Regents, the Campus Master Plan will serve as a living document as we begin the next phases of our campus development, and future phases, as well.

Thanks to all of you who participated in the development of this plan—whether you served on the task force, took part in a public forum, or responded to the online survey; your input was invaluable in shaping this final document. I encourage you to explore the plan and learn about the exciting future it lays out for our university and our community. As always, we welcome your feedback at masterplan@utsa.edu.


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UTSA’s Mission

The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.

UTSA’s Vision

To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.

UTSA’s Core Values

We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.

UTSA’S Destinations

UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .

Our Commitment to Inclusivity

The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.