Rider University will begin an in-depth facilities master planning process on the Lawrenceville and Princeton campuses this winter. This is an important initiative of the University's Strategic Plan that will help chart the intermediate and long term direction for development of Rider's facilities.

The facilities master planning process will consider new construction, renovation and deferred maintenance needs, as well as pedestrian and vehicular traffic, landscaping, signage and infrastructure needs on both campuses.

"The process will be highly participatory on both campuses and culminate in recommendations to the President and Board of Trustees for their consideration," said Julie Karns, vice president for finance and treasurer, and the senior administrator with responsibility for facilities. "We will keep the campus community apprised of our progress, and expect to work through the summer and seek broad campus input in the early fall."

The Spiezle Group, Inc. architectural and planning firm, which designed Rider's new Student Recreation Center and residence hall accommodations, will provide leadership to the process for the Lawrenceville campus. KSS Architects, which has provided design work for the Princeton campus including conceptual design for a new academic facility, will serve that role for Westminster facilities master planning.

Vice President Karns said that Mike Reca, associate vice president for auxiliary services and facilities planning, will chair facilities master planning committees for each campus. Invitations will be extended to more than 30 faculty, staff and student participants on the Lawrenceville campus. The University will work with Dean Robert Annis at Westminster to comprise a broad-based Princeton campus planning committee.

There will be a kickoff meeting for the Lawrenceville planning committee on Wednesday, December 14. This group will also invest two full days in January using a "charette" process to begin information gathering and facilitate creative dialogue on campus needs. After listening carefully to this initial Rider community input, the architects will develop and refine master plan documents for the campuses that the committee members will review in a subsequent series of meetings.

Vice President Karns said the University will also rely on other specialized professional partners such as Andropogan for landscaping, TRC Raymond Keyes for parking and traffic, and Van Note-Harvey for civil engineering.

"I am confident that Mike Reca and our architectural firm partners will make this an engaging and productive process," she added.