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The Ohio University Board of Trustees approved OHIO’s Housing Master Plan 2022 during meetings on OHIO’s Athens Campus earlier today.
The updated plan will not only shape and guide the University’s ongoing improvement of, and investment in, the residential infrastructure across the Athens Campus through a combination of new construction and major and minor renovation projects, it will also further enhance OHIO students’ overall residential experience for many years to come.
Principles guiding the Housing Master Plan
The Housing Master Plan is driven by a set of five core principles that were the result of months-long planning, peer analysis, budget discussions and stakeholder engagement efforts with students, parents and more.
- Competitiveness:Meeting the evolving expectations of students and their families and remaining competitive with other institutions.
- Capacity:Maintaining an appropriate capacity of beds, the flexibility to adapt to evolving external factors and to house first- and second-year students.
- Proximity:Maintaining proximity to the core campus, capitalizing on the neighborhood feel of the East, West and South Greens and including more community spaces (outside of sleeping areas) to allow for individual or group study, social and recreational activities, and other uses within residence halls.
- Affordability: Ensuring investments that are made consider student affordability and the University’s financial resources.
- Wellbeing:Ensuring that the residential experience nurtures inclusivity, wellbeing, accessibility and connectivity to outdoor spaces, culinary venues, recreational facilities and transportation.
A deeper look into building-by-building investment recommendations, the identification of a site considered for new construction and a reiteration of buildings targeted for eventual demolition are also included within the Housing Master Plan 2022 .
Future goals and planning priorities
Moving forward, the University plans to further integrate the Housing Master Plan’s capital priorities into its broader Six-Year Capital Improvement Plan process; additionally, it will continue to work closely with OHIO’s Enrollment Management team and other stakeholders to ensure a comprehensive review of future residential capacity assumptions will help inform the appropriate timing of planned capital projects.
As individual major projects in the Housing Master Plan are ready to be implemented, they will first be brought to the Board of Trustees for approval.