E-Insight

July 2003

Update on Approval Process for College 25-Year Master Plan

Faculty, staff and students are most likely by now familiar with the College's ambitious 25-year plan for the south campus, including the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital. What you may not be aware of is the approval process the College must go through before it can implement fundraising for the plan and begin the actual building of physical structures. Here is a brief overview of the process and where we are at currently.

In October 2001, the College received permission from the University's central administration to prepare a master site plan for the south campus. The cost of completing the plan was paid for by the College with some matching funds provided by central administration.

A faculty committee headed by Dr. Marty Fettman worked for the next 15 months with faculty, staff, facilities personnel, engineers and architects to bring together the master plan. The plan was completed in January 2003. The next step was to receive authorization from campus officials, including the Executive Budget Committee (Dr. Yates and the vice presidents), who did give the plan their seal of approval.

The College is now in the process of informing the City of Fort Collins about the plan because of the potential impacts the plan will have on the city, including traffic flow, waste removal, water run-off, water usage, and more.

On August 27, the College will present the master plan to the Board of Governors for their review and approval after which the Board of Governors will forward the plan to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. With CCHE approval, the plan will go before the Colorado State University Development Council for their review and approval. Dr. Perryman hopes to have all approvals and the final go-ahead in place by the end of October 2003, approximately two years from the initial start date of the master plan.

Once the College has final approvals in place, it will proceed with fundraising plans to support the master plan. Because state dollars are tight, the majority of the building projects will be completed with private donations. The one exception most likely will be the new Diagnostic Laboratory (which also will house the office of the state veterinarian), as this facility will serve the needs of each county in the state as well as federal programs and is a capital construction budget priority for the state.

It is important to note that the approval process is not complete once the master plan is in place. Each new building, prior to construction, must receive additional authorization from the CCHE as well as the Colorado State Legislature regardless of the origins of the funds.