Announcing the start of the Campus Use Plan process

Dear Students, Staff, and Faculty,

I am writing to announce the start of a new comprehensive Campus Use Plan (CUP) process at Smith. Closely aligned with the development of our new strategic plan, the CUP will provide guidance on how we utilize our buildings and open spaces to better support our mission.

As President Sarah noted in her December email to the Smith community, the CUP will serve as a road map to ensure that the physical campus evolves in a way that supports Smith’s strategic priorities. To help guide us in this process, we have engaged Sasaki—an interdisciplinary planning and design firm with expertise in higher education—to conduct a 10-month study of our campus. Sasaki’s work will complement our strategic planning effort to ensure the vision for the campus develops in close alignment with our goals and priorities.

Your participation in this process is crucial and your insights will be invaluable in shaping a campus plan that truly reflects our shared aspirations for the future. Together, the campus planning team and Sasaki will offer students, faculty, staff, and alums opportunities for engagement, such as surveys, pop-up engagement activities, visioning sessions, and feedback forums. Here’s what is scheduled so far:

• Campus Use Plan Pop-Up from February 4 to 6 in the Campus Center—Come get a hot chocolate, learn more about the CUP development process, and give us your thoughts on how the Smith campus can best serve our community’s needs.
• MyCampus Survey—Coming later in February, this digital interactive tool will help us gather information about your experiences and perceptions of the campus environment.
• Listening Sessions & Campus Tours—These will take place from February through March.

Please join us next week in the Campus Center for our first pop-up event, and reach out to the campus planning team at campususeplan@smith.edu any time with questions, comments, or suggestions. Your feedback will help shape the future of our campus.

Sincerely,
David DeSwert
Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration