Campus Master Plan looks 25 years into UWT’s future

Discussions about the 2025 Campus Master Plan and what the students, staff and faculty of UWT want to see changed on campus are happening now, with UWT recently holding an official meeting open to the campus community.

On Dec. 3 in the Milgard Hall, UW Tacoma and the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) Firm involved in the project held an event and presentation that showcased images of other campuses, including UW Seattle, Seattle University, Portland State University and a few other academic universities on the West Coast.   

The students who attended enjoyed free pizza and discussed the current structure of UWT’s campus, including its buildings, common areas and how the campus should attempt to use the hilly typography to their advantage. 

Five main goals for building up the campus were discussed, including expanding access for students to move around campus, building community, supporting innovation and scholarship, increasing the vitality of campus and making it more diversified and equitable. The campus master plan is currently under formulation as the team works to define a framework for the ideas presented by the campus community. 

“With more students living on campus, there’s going to be more events, there’s gonna be a little bit more activity, let’s bring on a student hub, a welcome center. Maybe there’s even some connections there with the Swiss Wild renovation,” Isabella Marcotulli, an urban designer for BIG said. 

For years, UWT students have complained about the lack of accessible and affordable food options on campus. The issue of creating a space for a dining hall at UWT came up during the meeting, with pictures showcasing dining halls at other universities on screen. 

During the meeting, most people agreed that food would reflect the heart of campus, bringing students together to enjoy meals or refreshments in social spaces. In addition, there were talks of activating Tacoma Avenue as a second front door to campus and increasing the interconnectedness of the campus with the hilltop community at large. 

Safety concerns along Pacific Avenue and other nearby streets were also mentioned during the meeting, along with traffic safety on Jefferson Avenue and 21^st Street, which is a spot currently being looked at by the City of Tacoma, according to Marcotulli. 

“The food options that are along Pacific Avenue aren’t really serving the students or the people, the users of UW Tacoma,” Marcotulli said. “Not a big surprise here, we’ve heard a lot about the West campus feeling empty and not really feeling so safe, I think we’re all looking towards that right now.” 

The issues that came up the most in surveys were a dining hall, cafes and snack bars, increasing and modifying student housing and creating an indoor green space. Followed by that were the issues of lounge seating, parking, making the campus greener and building sport courts and a plaza, among other ideas, according to the presentation.  

When asked about parking on campus, as many students who attend UWT are commuters, Yu Inamoto, Senior Architect and Project Manager of BIG mentioned that they don’t know how much space they can work into the plan, however, there have been discussions about building a multi-level or multi-use parking structure. They need to determine how many units they could fit within the space and possibly combine more student housing with parking units. 

Over the summer, they defined the needs and goals of the campus through interview sessions, analyzing the existing conditions, understanding the uses and adjacencies of the features on campus. They worked on defining a framework and beginning to present the master plan, driving engagement and consensus. The final step is to create a vision that assists collective values and refines the ideas which represent the community. 

Students, faculty and staff were given handouts at the event to write down or draw on a map where they thought the next new academic building should go, along with any potential new ideas like garage-style doors, a water fountain, more outdoor coverage and seating areas as some examples. They were encouraged to dream big and pinpoint where they thought the heart of the campus is now and where it should be in the future. 

Staff members brought up some ideas about providing better vending machines in more convenient locations, constructing outdoor seating spaces or temperature-controlled rooms with open floor plans or a pavilion building that could be used for multiple purposes like events. 

One student, Frederick Langley, defined the heart of the campus as the Dawg House, where many students go to interact, purchase hot dogs, play pool and lounge around or study in the Mattress Factory building. 

Another student, Ashley Jones, brought up the need for affordable childcare and more child-friendly spaces on campus during the meeting, as a mother who attends classes. The YMCA offers childcare, but for Jones, it’s too expensive to use regularly, doesn’t offer early learning and only offers limited time blocks. 

Microbosques, microforests, stormwater management and resilience has come up in conversation as the architects work to create a plan for a new academic building and changes to the landscape, keeping in mind the university’s sustainability goals.  

“How do we start to think about the landscape in a way that is beautiful, can be inhabited but also helps to meet some of the sustainability goals,” Jessica Henson, a partner at OLIN Studio and registered landscape architect said. 

Thus far, the campus has heard from at least 15 executive leaders, 30 faculty members, 40 staff members and over 50 undergraduate and graduate students, according to a presentation slide. 

The firm also reached out to a list of over 1,000 local businesses and organizations, including the City of Tacoma, the Hilltop Association and the Puyallup Tribe to receive feedback on the project from the surrounding Tacoma community. 

To participate in the conversation, look for online surveys in your UW email, vote in the Husky Commons Polls or engage workshops on campus. You can also email UWT to provide further suggestions to the campus master plan.