Master Plan Steering Committee Meeting Summary – 01/20/09

Attendees:

Steering Committee Members:
Regent James Bishop
Mr. Duane Harris, Chair
Dr. Michael Bull
Mr. Ray Calvert
Mr. Rodney Clements
Mr. Gary Colberg
Ms. Pat Hodnett-Cooper
Ms. Diana Murphy
Director Connie Patrick
Mr. Floyd Phoenix
Ms. Jessica Ramirez
Mayor Bryan Thompson
Dr. Andrea Wallace
Mr. Tony Wege
Mr. David Zimmerman


Absent: Ms. LaVerne Cooper, Mr. Michael Hodges, Mr. Ashton Stripling

CCG Staff:
Valerie Hepburn, Interim President
Tom Saunders, VP Business Affairs
Cynthia Atwood, AVP, Planning and Risk Management

Eva Klein Associates:
Mr. Joe Carter
Ms. Sarah Freidel
Ms. Eva Klein
Mr. Bill Morlok
Mr. Aaron Schwarz

Meeting Summary:

Current Context for CCGA Planning (Eva Klein & Team):

A. External Context

1. The University System of Georgia projects a growth of 100,000+ students, primarily in the Atlanta area.
2. From a geographic standpoint, the College of Coastal Georgia is well positioned to be a cultural center, given the proximity of downtown Brunswick and the islands.

B. CCGA Profile - Today

1. Of the approximately 3,000 currently enrolled students at CCGA, about 500 of those are technical students.
2. 71% of the headcount attend the Brunswick campus.
3. 36% of students are enrolled in learning support.
4. 92% of the student population comes from the surrounding 12 counties, 6.5% from other areas of Georgia and less than 2% from out of state or international.
5. The average age of students is 25.8 years, which is expected to continue to decrease.
6. There are 83 full-time faculty, 51 part-time faculty and 188 full-time staff.
7. There is a definite need for a student center where students can “hang out”, accommodations for student organizations to meet, a larger athletics program (including intramural sports) and food service. The building that is in the worst shape for its age is the Student Center.
8. Public bus service connecting downtown, the college and the mall should be in place early next year.
9. Enrollment figures for the University Center are needed for future planning purposes so the physical count can be tallied in with the CCGA figures.

Steering Committee Discussions:

A. Plan Time Horizon

1. Ms. Klein stressed the importance of looking at an out-year longer-term strategy. Her team is not using a number of years; they will use the term “endgame” which will reflect the ultimate desired College enrollment level. The 1st phase, 2014+, will be defined as the 5 year plan but recognizing that it may be 6, 7, or 8 years. The timeframe itself may be 20 or 30 years. “Current” will be defined as Fall 2008 parameters plus the modifications of 16 additional faculty and the changes of the new Health and Sciences building.
2. There were no objections to the above horizons. All agreed to the terms “endgame”, “1st phase” and “current”.

B. Plan Elements

1. Elements of a brand to be incorporated are: Service Learning/Experiential Education, Global Awareness, Leadership and Entrepreneurship.
2. As part of a community engagement strategy, Ms. Klein’s challenge was to design a complement of degree programs that are essentially geared to the “pragmatic” matter of preparation for professions/occupations – all undergirded by strong general education. She suggested the following degrees be offered:
   a. Bachelor of Arts in Arts and Humanities
   b. Bachelor of Science in Math and Science
   c. Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences
3. A discussion followed that resulted in general agreement NOT to offer a degree in General Studies unless there were specific areas of concentration within the degree.
4. It was discussed and agreed that clearly identifying CCGA is in the business of career preparation is an “okay thing”.
5. Career placement should partner with career preparation.
6. Because three of CCGA’s new programs (Nursing, Education and Business) are by nature “capped enrollment” other program avenues need to be available. The college would need diversity in its programs for broader occupations. Offering the three programs listed in #2 (above) would give the college more flexibility. A market analysis and the appropriate institutional research will have to be done.
7. Three possible identity statements were discussed and modified. Stated preferences included substituting the word “leadership” for “success”, removing the word “quality” and adding something that brings in the notion of personal independence without using those words. Also important is the idea of “well rounded” or “well adjusted citizens. Due to time constraints, this discussion was placed on hold.
8. Ms. Klein presented five “brand statements” which were discussed and tweaked. (See attached). She stated that the difference between the identity statement and the mission statement is the mission states what the college will accomplish and the identity states what the outcomes are for the students.

C. Student Demographics

1. The following headcount projections will be used:
   2015 – 3500 students
   2020 – 6000 students
   Endgame – Ultimate desired College enrollment level (10,000 students)
2. The present breakdown by resident type is as follows: 12 counties the college serves, 92%, rest of Georgia 6.5% and less than 2% are out of state/international. The projection for 2014 is 70% from the 12 county area, 20% from the rest of Georgia, 4% from out-of-state and 1% international (95%). Endgame projections are 55% from the 12 county area, 35% from the rest of Georgia, 7% from other states and 3% international students.
3. The demographic percentages presented by Eva Klein & Associates are not written in stone. They can be changed but it is important that they be as accurate as possible because all the percentages drive the master plan.
4. Regent Bishop asked about the application base. How many students applied, but decided to go elsewhere (out of state)? His advice to the committee was to expand as much as is practicable. Academically, the question becomes, “How quickly can the college accommodate the growth”? He thought that 7500 students is a good goal over the next 5 – 10 years. However, the growth factor is limited without residential facilities.

D. Financing/Residential Housing

1. Dr. Hepburn advised the committee to take a measured approach. She expressed that it is important to show the BOR and the Chancellor’s office what options have been exhausted and seek a balance between realism and assertiveness. The fact that dormitories are needed is a given but moving forward with the state and the 6-year Capital Improvement Plan would be difficult but necessary. Building for future expansion is the key.
2. At endgame, a projection of 30% of students would be campus residents but the exact percentage would be decided by the number of adult learners verses the number of 18 – 22 year olds enrolled.
3. Mr. Carter explained a chart on campus housing (see attached) that showed
   a progression of housing styles and who is being served. He suggested it be mandatory for freshmen to live in campus housing.
4. An apartment type housing arrangement between FLETC, SGHS and CCGA may be attractive to an investor because one or two entities can fill the other’s gap.

E. Curriculum
Due to time constraints, the curriculum section of the presentation was not discussed.

F. Physical Plan

1. Focusing on the physical plan for the Brunswick campus, the existing inventory consists of 193 acres, 1066 parking spaces and 154,472 net square feet of usable space in 11 buildings.
2. The projected number of beds needed on campus (or under CCGA control) in the year 2014 is 1000, based on 20% of a 5000 headcount. The endgame number is 3000 beds.
3. The overall square foot projection is that there is a needed inventory of 492,348 NASF for 2020.
4. An immediate space distribution issue that needs quick resolution is the question of centralized vs. decentralized faculty office space. A centralized arrangement would place offices together based on discipline with classrooms and labs located in close proximity. A decentralized plan would build aggregate faculty offices in faculty centers with a blending of many different disciplines. When the committee was asked if anyone wanted to anchor offices with classrooms, the response was negative. Other issues, though not as pressing, are the placement of residential facilities, the size of a new student life building and the operation of its food distribution service, the infrastructure and its composition of either one central plant or multiple plants, and the placement of parking spaces and whether or not a parking garage is a possibility.
5. It is important to build for tomorrow with 21st century state-of-the-art technology in offices, classrooms and multi-disciplined labs.
6. Space that cannot be converted into usable classroom space could be redesigned as faculty centers (integrated models). That may be the future of the Allied Health Building.
7. Dr. Hepburn informed the committee that the proposed new Health/Sciences Building has been renamed the Health and Sciences Building.
8. Eva Kline’s team recommended that the committee concentrate their focus on new buildings and new construction in the short term being confined in a campus core and as functional needs grow in the future, buildings can splinter off the core. (See attachment).
9. Mr. Schwarz recommended we start by tightening the campus “core”. Also presented was the idea of a “blended” campus, which is non-traditional, where some housing is in the core, away from the residential village, and some housing is located in the retail area. The recreation area could also blend with some housing. Some classes could be held in the residential area. This mixed use environment is not typical but is good because it doesn’t separate commuter students from the residential student population. This design also allows for expansion. Under this model the new Health and Sciences Building might be included in the “core campus” rather than splintered off.
10. Parking needs to be relocated out of the core. Because everything is accessible via a 5 minute walk, this should not be a problem.
11. A walkway is required between SGHS and CCGA. How you create the pathways is critical.
12. Decisions need to be made about what departments/programs are moving into the Health and Sciences Building.
13. Mr. Schwarz will develop a criteria list to determine the best location for the Health & Sciences Building.

F. Student Services

1. To achieve enrollment growth will require that CCGA become a destination institution for out-of-region students and an institution of choice for in-region students. This will require extensive development of student accommodations and a vibrant campus life for students.
2. Staffing, facilities and funding need to be considered for the following:
   • Residence life programming
   • Food service – meal plans and retail
   • Extra-curricular clubs and organizations
   • Athletics – intercollegiate and intramural teams
   • Recreation
   • Student health – medical, counseling, fitness
   • Public safety
   • Lectures, concerts, exhibitions
   • Entertainment
   • Publications
   • Religious related student organizations
   • Special needs
3. The committee agreed that campus controlled housing should be mandatory for freshmen students living a specified number of miles from the campus because the bond buyer needs to be guaranteed 95% occupancy. The team should look at South Georgia and Middle Georgia to see how their residence halls and meal plans are structured.
4. Five hundred students must be on a meal plan for it to work financially. Three meals each day would have to be available plus retail for sodas, muffins etc.
5. Regarding the issue of public safety, it may be feasible to share police officers with the hospital during evening and weekend hours. One officer for each shift may be appropriate for 500 residential students.
6. Additional student academic support services needed are:
   • Student recruitment/marketing
   • Admissions
   • Financial aid
   • Academic advisement
   • Tutoring
   • Information technology, campus network
   • Library (collections, on-line resources, reference staff)
   • Career services
   • Distance learning
   • Service learning/experiential learning
   • Cultural programming
7. The sizing of dormitories was discussed. A good number of residents per building may be 250 – 350. Each building should be under 4 stories.
8. Three issues were agreed on:
   • Green space should be kept at a maximum
   • There should be no tall buildings
   • There should be no parking garages
9. Ms. Klein will send a note regarding what was decided at this meeting and begin working on an agenda for the next meeting on February 26th.
10. It is necessary to know how to expand wisely.