dumontjanks

In support of a physical master plan for a new University of Minnesota campus in Rochester, we developed a comprehensive model that integrated academic, research, financial, and physical considerations. The new campus revolved around a vision for signature programs in the health sciences. The goal was for UMR to become a model for innovation in teaching, learning, and supporting technologies, using a shared curriculum model. The planning model tested alternative scenarios for the campus’ development. It evolved through a collaborative process that relied heavily on financial expertise from the Twin Cities campus and the vision of UMR leadership. The model focused on the financial (both operating and capital) and space requirements generated by particular academic and research strategies. Potential strategies were tested over different time periods, with particular attention paid to alternative pedagogical approaches with different levels of contact time and class size, varied enrollment levels and mixes for each year of enrollment. Other variables explored included incentives for national and international student contingents, student faculty ratios and staff levels, different program mixes and combinations of new signature programs and ongoing existing programs, and facility funding strategies, including potential partnerships with the city and other stakeholders like the Mayo Clinic. The model showed that the signature approach represented significant cost-savings over more traditional structures.