The Process

The Champlain College master planning process began in early 2006,  with the plan being finalized in March of 2007. This process investigated opportunities to improve our campus in ways big and small: though large-scale, long-term actions such as building construction, and through smaller interventions such as how we use space-changes that can happen right away.

The planning process had four phases:

PHASE 1: Identification of Issues

With the help of consultants at Goody Clancy, ORW, and Rickes Associates, the Champlain community investigated what physical conditions are working well for the College and what could be improved. Campus tours, discussions with neighbors and city officials, open meetings, interviews with faculty, staff, and students, and the guidance of a steering committee helped to clarify campus context and issues.

PHASE 2: Analysis and Alternatives

How should the Champlain campus look and feel in the months and years ahead? The Champlain community-students, staff, faculty, trustees, and neighbors gathered for a couple of interactive, hands-on workshops, called a design charrette. Participants worked in small groups to design their ideal Champlain of the future, addressing the issues identified in Phase 1. The Champlain community had opportunities to provide additional feedback at post-charrette drop-in sessions. The ideas and priorities that emerged from these sessions were used to develop alternative scenarios for the future.

PHASE 3: Draft Master Plan

Based on the issues identified in Phase 1 and the ideas, priorities, and preferred alternatives that emerged in Phase 2, the consultants drafted a master plan. This draft illustrated Champlain's vision for the future and outlined the steps that will enable the College to achieve that vision.

PHASE 4: Final Master Plan

The Champlain community, including the Master Plan Steering Committee, made up of faculty, staff students, neighbors and city officials, reviewed and revised the draft plan. The final master plan, completed in March 2007, offers a workable and broadly embraced roadmap for the future of the campus. Now that the plan is in place, the College will begin to implement the campus vision.