Growing Together: Campus Planning That Advances a Thriving Community
Suzanne Klein, Principal and Associate Vice President, Buildings + Places, AECOM US East & Latin America (left) and John C. Phillips, Principal and Associate Vice President, Buildings + Places, AECOM New York Metro (right)
Creating a sense of belonging on a college campus isn’t a groundbreaking goal — but extending that vision into the greater community is. Middlesex College, a public institution in central New Jersey, worked in collaboration with Middlesex County to create a master plan called the Community, Innovation and Opportunity Strategic Investment (CIO) Plan to do just that — make the campus a welcoming, inclusive gathering place for students and the greater community. Our master planning team was brought in to advise the College and the County on how to turn their shared visions into reality. After thorough market research, evaluation, extensive stakeholder input and collaboration, we developed five innovative recommendations, referred to as “Big Moves” for the master plan:
- The Multicultural Community Complex
- The Spine
- Pathways and Places
- Campus Life
- The Athletic Complex
In this article, we’ll focus on three of the moves: the Spine, pathways and places, and campus life.
Establishing “The Spine”
Most of the College’s facilities and activities are currently located in the center of campus, so the first step was to create a literal pathway to connect students, faculty, residents, and visitors to the entire length of the campus. This primary pathway, known as “The Spine,” is almost three-quarters of a mile long and will run north to south. It will span from the proposed Multipurpose Community Complex on the north side of the campus, through the West Quad, between what will be the new premier cricket field and extending to a future pedestrian footbridge that connects people to the center of the county’s Thomas Edison Park, located adjacent to the campus and future home of the new athletic complex. The Spine makes navigating the college campus much easier for students, faculty, staff, and visitors.
Creating Pathways and Places
Along with The Spine’s centralized route, the college will develop a series of pathways connecting people to other areas of the campus, from academic and recreational facilities to greenspaces. One key connector will be “The Loop,” a multimodal, one-and-a-half-mile paved pathway around the campus that links to Thomas Edison Park, providing a safe thoroughfare for walkers, runners, wheelchair users, families with children in strollers, and cyclists. The Colt’s Concourse pathway will become the primary cross axis for pedestrian activity linking campus facilities from east to west.
Along with creating more efficient connections throughout campus, this network of pathways is designed to showcase the majestic oaks that are defining Middlesex characteristics. Other plans to enhance placemaking include new greenspaces with dedicated places for active gatherings or studying, and improved wayfinding, allowing visitors to safely navigate and enjoy the campus experience.
Supporting Campus Life
Enhancing campus life is an important consideration for the college’s administration, and it’s also an opportunity to create an integrated, inclusive experience for the greater community. Initiating this Big Move began with identifying educational experiences that can fill local and regional business and industry gaps, specifically in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, and developing a 106,000-square-foot Academic Workforce Conference Center to support those experiences. The two magnet schools on campus — one that is currently in operation, the Edison Academy, and another that will be added as a part of this CIO Plan — will provide direct access to college-level courses and expanded vocational education to prepare students for their future careers and better support the 21st century workforce.
Further changes to better help students thrive academically, mentally and physically include a new 30,000-square-foot student center and renovations to the existing Physical Education Building, which upon completion will serve as a community wellness center. Outdoor gathering spaces will also be expanded, providing more areas for students and the community to learn, create and play. To support the large population of diverse cricket players and teams in the county, a new cricket field will be developed on the southern portion of the campus. A concept for on-campus housing is also in the works, which if approved, will include residence halls for students and multifamily residential apartments that will include affordable housing options for non-students and families.
Turning Ideas Into Impact
The college’s and county’s expansive aspirations to create inclusive communities, drive economic growth, maximize mobility and improve sustainability aren’t unique. But the power of the college and the county joining forces — working with unified, strategic goals to become a transformative difference-maker — makes a real impact.
The holistic approach applied by our master planning team takes all stakeholders into consideration, from students and faculty to neighbors and county residents, and government and political leaders, to successfully bring these big ideas to life. In partnership with the college and the county, we developed a clear, concise and collaborative path for redefining the campus environment, characterized by its accessibility, diversity and inclusivity — establishing a supportive, welcoming destination where students and community members alike will thrive.
Suzanne Klein is a principal and associate vice president for AECOM’s Buildings + Places business line in the U.S. East & Latin America. She specializes in higher education projects and led the campus master planning for Middlesex College’s CIO Plan.
John C. Phillips is a principal and associate vice president for AECOM’s Buildings + Places business line in the New York Metro. Focusing on higher education clients, he led the project team implementing Middlesex College’s CIO Plan.