Strategic Plan tour

[okinawatyphoon]

With the first stop of the tour of the Strategic Plan only two days away, I thought I would start a thread here for those who've attended to post comments, or just comments in general. Here is a link to the page for more information: http://www.valpo.edu/alumni/events/sp.php
Stops: Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Valparaiso, Chicago, St Louis, Detroit.

President Mark A. Heckler will personally share his update on current and future plans for Valparaiso University during his presentation of "Our Common Pursuit: Valpo's Call to Lead and Serve for the Next Generation." The presentation will highlight the strategic plan for Valparaiso University and will take place at various locations throughout the country.

The strategic plan serves as the University's road map for the next two decades and will chart the course for future success at the institution. This is your opportunity to take an in-depth look at the plan, and to interact with the president, fellow alumni, and friends of Valpo.

[78crusader]

So, has anyone attended one of President Heckler's talks?  If so, would you care to share some of the highlights with us?  Thanks, Paul

[vu72]

Yes, I was there Friday night where about 60 alums had the chance to meet with President Heckler, his wife, Dean Boyt, Vice President Hollander and The Director of Alumni Relations.(it used to be called Alumni Affairs, but somehow that didn't sound right!)

To begin with, I will tell all of you that if you haven't had a chance to meet Mark Heckler, or to hear him speak, you have truly missed something special.  A dynamic speaker who exudes confidence in both the plan and the University in general.  He showed complete knowledge of not only the presentation but also of the history, challenges and future issues facing our beloved Valpo
The "plan" as it has been discussed, didn't really get into many specifics as to which building were going to be replaced etc, although the question and answer portion has him going into fairly great detail as to building plans.  What is happening right now is a master plan as to future construction etc. which is being done by an outside consulting firm.  That will be presented to the board by year's end and presumably will be made public shortly thereafter.  We were told that Huegli will be torn down as will the old dorms except Brandt and Werenberg. He discussed the Welcome Center, which should be under construction within a short while. He also discussed the plans to expand the Chapel and bring several church and volunteer related programs together under new leadership, which was recently announced.  There was also a discussion regarding Greek life and President Heckler's preference to build a new "Greek village" which could replace some aging houses in neighborhoods as well as, what he described as, "the Stalin like residences currently on Mound Street" (Seriously, that is pretty close to his exact words!!)

The plan for sororities would most likely include moving them to Guild/Memorial, which has a "classic feel" and meets their national sorority models of living in a dorm setting rather than in individual houses.

Now, as for athletics, there was not a great deal of discussion.  Some of us pressed the issue but  his response was to acknowledge the importance of our athletic programs and basketball as our "flagship" program.  Interesting, he briefly said that he had learned from his colleague, Bobbi Fong, at Butler, and how Dr. Fong had taken advantage of Butler's success.  He also mentioned football and its importance to the university.  He told the group that he had brought in a new coach and that he had some very good players coming in.  Specifically, he mentioned the young man from Hawaii, and hoped he would be as excited about coming to Valpo as he currently is, in February!!
As to specifics about athletics, there were none, and I presume those will come after the master plan is presented and approved at year end.  Then, the next campaign will be put together and fund raising will be underway.

One other program that will definitely take place is the renovation of the Chapel.  He told us, that to completely renovate, add the needed space and bring it up to code, would cost 27 million!!!!!  As a side note, don't stand near the side windows with the clear glass, as, in a decent windstorm, you could be in harms way!!

Much of the presentation had to do with the character of the University and the continued Lutheran nature of same.  He discussed the declining number of students in our historic draw area (the great lakes area) as well as the decline of Lutheran students in the age group.  He also talked about expanding enrollment goals and the fact that the incoming class is larger, and has a higher GPA the the previous class, which was in and of itself, higher than in recent years.

I could go on, as there was much discussion and I think we could have kept him there till midnight if we could have.

Trust me, Valpo is in great hands and run by a guy who has a great interest in athletics and an appreciation of how athletics's publication and success can help the University.

Let me know if you have questions and I'll try to answer as best I can.

[78crusader]

So, VU72, I gather from your summary that the Chapel will not undergo the 27 million dollar renovation...so what impression were you left with insofar as the Chapel renovation is concerned?  What will likely be done?  Did you get the feeling that an addition would definitely be part of the renovation?  (I can only presume the addition would be on the south side of the narthex, that is, to the right when you walk in the front doors.)

I'm glad he reaffirmed the importance of the football program to VU. 

Paul

[vu72]

Yes, the renovation will begin soon and all I can tell you relative to the expansion is that it will be done so that it is not of significant notice.  I presume some of it will be done on the existing interior and what ever composes a new footprint will be done in a way as to not detract from the existing image.  How that will work is unknown to me and probably to President Heckler as well, as I doubt blueprints are underway.

Clearly there are things at the Chapel that need imeadiate attention, like the side windows.  I think his point was that everything that needs to be done will take some time, based simply on the sheer cost.

[agibson]

Interesting to hear about the Chapel plans!

I'll be very curious to hear what they have in mind, aside from renovations/repairs like the side windows.

There's surely no shortage of worship space.  And, with the main chapel (now more or less permanently split
into a morning prayer section and a larger front section), Gloria Christi, and even the Gloria Christi sub-chapels there are plenty of options for worship space.  I suppose there might not be anything setup for, I'm not sure how to say it, how about "pop concert" style setup.  If you wanted lights, a sound system, sound board, etc. you might have to go to the VUCA. 

Or, the chapel has almost _no_ meeting space.  (Basically just the one medium-large room in the Undercroft, and a couple of offices.)  The dorms, academic buildings, and maybe now the Union have taken up the slack there.  But, perhaps they have some extra chapel-specific rooms in mind.

[okinawatyphoon]

Thanks for the update, 72! I've been away from the internet all week. It's interesting to hear that they plan on tearing down (I'm assuming) Lankenou and Alumni halls. Those are pretty large halls, and there already is not enough room, so they must have some pretty big plans for residence halls soon.

[vuweathernerd]

there are really only two options for dealing with scheele, lankenau, alumni, and brandt: gut the insides down to a hollow shell to rewire everything, or bulldoze them. i'm pretty sure bulldozing them would be cheaper. due to the lack of interior updates over the last 40 years, as well as with all the building code changes in that time, those are really the only possibilities left. but i definitely agree with your inference, typhoon, about impending changes.

[mj]

My brother lives in the new apartments that were just built and apparently they have a lot of problems since they were built so quickly. Hopefully Valpo doesn't plan to throw up more cheap housing in order to replace the old residence halls.

[vuweathernerd]

My brother lives in the new apartments that were just built and apparently they have a lot of problems since they were built so quickly. Hopefully Valpo doesn't plan to throw up more cheap housing in order to replace the old residence halls.

what kind of problems? the few times i've been in uptown, they seemed fine. though i didn't live there, so i wouldn't see those kinds of things.

[vu72]

For clarification, President Heckler said that Alumni, Lankenau and Scheele will be torn down.  Brandt will stay.  Why I'm not sure but possibly because it is attached to Werenberg, which will also stay.

He said that studies have shown that it is prefereable for freshman to still have a two person per room, bathroom down the hall situation as it build community.  If you go directly to a private room private bath plan you apparently become more isolated.

As for uptown, he said that model would be the future plan for more or replaced housing.  Right now there are about 300 units which are mastered rented from the university.  This combo of private financing couple with a master lease seems like a way to reduce the millions necessary to go it alone and frees up dollars for the many other needs on the table.

[vuweathernerd]

having lived both lifestyles, as well as served as an ra for a year, it's absolutely true that the setup in scheele/lank/alumni/brandt builds community. but that is only one piece of the puzzle. the university would be foolish to abandon that style of living in the underclassman dorms.

[okinawatyphoon]

Just a quick note, but it appears that additional cities will be visited this fall for the strategic plan tour. Maybe some who felt left out (i.e. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne) will be visited soon.

[vuweathernerd]

my parents went last night to the stop in st louis, and said that there is a plan for a 320-unit suite style dorm to come in the not too distant future. but don't know where as of yet. my first thought would be where heugli is, but that's just a guess. they're also working on a solar oven outside gellersen capable of heating to 6000 kelvin (over 10,000 degrees fahrenheit), which is supposed to be done by july. as for admission standards, this year's incoming class is shaping up to be even stronger than last year's, which had had the highest act/sat scores and gpas for an incoming class in some time. overall, my parents were very impressed by heckler and the plans for development of the university going forward.

[vu72]

my parents went last night to the stop in st louis, and said that there is a plan for a 320-unit suite style dorm to come in the not too distant future. but don't know where as of yet. my first thought would be where heugli is, but that's just a guess. they're also working on a solar oven outside gellersen capable of heating to 6000 kelvin (over 10,000 degrees fahrenheit), which is supposed to be done by july. as for admission standards, this year's incoming class is shaping up to be even stronger than last year's, which had had the highest act/sat scores and gpas for an incoming class in some time. overall, my parents were very impressed by heckler and the plans for development of the university going forward.

I read about the solar oven somewhere and noticed at that time that MIT was coming out to see it as they don't have anything like it.  Pretty impressive.

[valpo95]

The solar furnace will be very impressive.  (The surface of the sun is about 6000K, the solar furnace will work at about 2300K, which is still a very hot 3600 degrees F.)
 
Dr. Robert Palumbo is a Mechanical Engineering Professor and a world class solar researcher.  He did his PhD at the University of Minnesota -- they had a solar furnace on top of one of the engineering buildings.  After some faculty members left and retired, their facility was mothballed for quite a few years.  Dr. Palumbo was able to obtain some of the critical components from Minnesota, and has has experience with operating it. 

Once complete, (a small building located near Gellerson) the facility will draw in faculty, graduate students and researchers from top universities who will want to see the facility and probably do some research at it.  It is remarkable that VU will have such a facility.

[vu72]

Because I do some college fairs for Valpo I try to stay up to date on what is going on at the campus.  In that regard I just listened to a President Heckler interview on WVUR.  It was conducted a couple of days ago and adds a few things to the campus mix.  If you have about a half hour, go to the WVUR website and have a listen!

Here are a couple of things I gleaned from his discussion:  1) He says there will be a new suite style residence hall in place by the fall of 2013 and it will have 350 beds.  Financing options go to the Board this fall.  No one knows exactly where it will go as the master plan is underway and that result will tell where it will be built.  2)Brandt Hall will be next to be renovated including airconditioning..  Brandt and Werenberg will be kept while the other dorms in that area will eventually be torn down and replaced.  The entire rehab/replacement dorm project will take place over the next 19 years!!
3) For those who wonder how Valpo can grow from about 3000 undergrads to the 4500 new goal, relative to dorm space, here is the answer:  It isn't a problem.  The dorms were built to accommodate a larger student body and as a result, when you pull all the empty beds together that now exist, you could close Alumni and still have room for all current students.  This was surprising and hard to detect as a few empty rooms here or there can apparently really add up.
4)Over the last 10 years, Valpo has had an overall growth in minority students of 72%.  As of 2010 they represented 14.5% of the student body.  They represent 22% of the law school!
5)The current Master Plan was done in 1985 and is now being completely updated.  Many issues including road circulation. parking, new academic buildings, housing and athletics are under review.  Many of you may know that the existing plan had McIntyre Court completely torn down and converted to athletic uses with the existing Eastgate area used for something else.  this may still happen but he did say everything is being reviewed.  Should be very interesting next five years, but, as we have seen for many years, virtually ever year will bring a new something!!

[okinawatyphoon]

Thanks for summarizing the interview, 72. I tried listening to it online but couldn't find it! I think we are in for some exciting times. I am a little shocked to hear how much space we have in the residence halls, but the more room, the better! And I think it is great that we are keeping at least one of the old residence halls.....we need at least some history on this campus!

[vu72]

Thanks for summarizing the interview, 72. I tried listening to it online but couldn't find it! I think we are in for some exciting times. I am a little shocked to hear how much space we have in the residence halls, but the more room, the better! And I think it is great that we are keeping at least one of the old residence halls.....we need at least some history on this campus!

If you go to the old fan board site, then click on WVUR (on the right hand column) and it should be right in front of you.

[valpo04]

Thanks for summarizing the interview, 72. I tried listening to it online but couldn't find it! I think we are in for some exciting times. I am a little shocked to hear how much space we have in the residence halls, but the more room, the better! And I think it is great that we are keeping at least one of the old residence halls.....we need at least some history on this campus!

If you go to the old fan board site, then click on WVUR (on the right hand column) and it should be right in front of you.

It is also listed in the Media Links on the front page of this site (http://www.valpofanzone.com)

[agibson]

And I think it is great that we are keeping at least one of the old residence halls.....we need at least some history on this campus!

The real "history" is keeping Guild and Memorial.  Keeping refurbished versions of Brandt and Berg is just a tie to.... the late 60's?

[okinawatyphoon]

And I think it is great that we are keeping at least one of the old residence halls.....we need at least some history on this campus!

The real "history" is keeping Guild and Memorial.  Keeping refurbished versions of Brandt and Berg is just a tie to.... the late 60's?

Brandt and the other residence halls like it may not be historic yet, but they are essentially the oldest buildings on campus left besides GM and the Hilltop gym, and in my opinion they define an era of campus. They were some of the original buildings on the new campus as well.

[78crusader]

VU has to keep Wehrenberg ... we spent over $5 mil about 10-15 years ago to remodel.  If you keep Wehrenberg, you gotta keep Brandt since they are connected.

I don't think the new dorm with 350 beds will be placed at the Huegli Hall site.  A dorm that size has to have adequate parking...and you just can't put a parking ramp right in the middle of campus.  The old master plan had a new dorm south of Guild-Memorial, along with a parking ramp.  That seems to make more sense.  By putting the new dorm and parking structure there, you would create a new residence hall area (it is my understanding the sororities will move to Guild-Memorial) and have the parking structure on the periphery of campus, where it belongs.  If VU is going to increase enrollment as planned, it has to have a new parking structure.  Plus the university is by now probably suffering from construction fatigue from all the middle-of-campus construction that has gone on nearly non-stop since 2006.  I would think the Huegli site would be a good place for the new science building, several years from now.

President Heckler mentioned in the interview they are looking at moving all of the Eastgate athletic fields to campus, and closing off the Sturdy Road access.  That is a great, long-overdue idea.  

One of the ironies of the VU plan is that over the last ten years VU's national reputation has declined (not my opinion, these exact words appeared on the VU website as part of the explanation as to why a new brand was needed) while there are many more international students on campus.  The solution, it appears, is...more of the same.  I don't understand that.  Unless there are more Lutheran students than I think in places like Tehran and New Delhi, more international students means less of a Lutheran presence on campus.  A big part of VU's brand is its Lutheran heritage and identity.  Anything that dilutes that Lutheran presence is a mistake, it seems to me.  Paul  

[agibson]

Brandt and the other residence halls like it may not be historic yet, but they are essentially the oldest buildings on campus left besides GM and the Hilltop gym, and in my opinion they define an era of campus. They were some of the original buildings on the new campus as well.

I guess the Chapel's from about the same era as Brandt, or a bit before?

[vu72]

The Chapel was built in 1959 so it is the oldest building on "new" campus.