MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon Nazarene University Board of Trustees has approved the University Plan Framework, providing a vision of the future for MVNU. The intent of the University Plan Framework is designed to maximize student learning and growth; maximize the effectiveness of the university’s impact on its constituencies; maximize the sustainability of programming through the efficient use of resources; demonstrate that the university is responsive to the environment in which it operates by developing flexibility and adaptability of structures and processes; and demonstrate that the university is a dynamic learning organization.
The trustees also accepted a revised Campus Master Plan, which deals with the facilities needed to make that vision a reality.
“We are blessed as an institution to be located in the city of Mount Vernon, and especially blessed to possess an expansive campus that allows us to dream about what might exist in the future at 800 Martinsburg Road,” said university president Dr. Dan Martin. “Over the last year a campuswide committee has diligently explored how we might best utilize our campus to support our growth while maintaining its pastoral setting. I believe the revised Campus Master Plan has accomplished this objective, and it will be exciting to see it take shape as we pursue the master plan’s priorities in support of our comprehensive university plan.”
Keith Newman, vice president for university relations, said the role of the university president is to provide a vision for the future.
“Dr. Martin has been here since Feb. 1, 2007,” he said. “During that time he has had meetings with trustees, alumni, faculty and staff with the goal of casting an eye toward the future and getting input from all those people.”
He said campus master plans are developed in terms of the actual future of buildings and entrances and development of property.
“It’s pretty standard that you do them every 10 years,” Newman said, “and it’s also pretty standard when you have a presidential transition.”
The planning team conducted a site and facilities survey to look at the limits of the campus, its topography and the current configurations of buildings on the campus. It also investigated subjective factors related to how students sense, feel and respond to the environment.
Newman said the planning team then came up with eight primary goals, or “keys to success.” Those are: The main entry, welcome center, campus center, circulation, academic space, chapel connection, improved and expanded residences and athletic facilities.
The master plan outlines the strategies developed to meet those goals and describes how the strategies will help make each goal a reality.
According to Laura Short, vice president of university relations, there is no timetable for implementing these goals.
