The features of Winthrop University’s campus are utilized by many students, faculty, staff and alumni each semester. However, due to the various infrastructure issues occurring campus wide, Interim President George Hyde prioritized the Campus Master Plan.
Over the course of several months, students, faculty and staff have been asked to fill out surveys on what they believe should be updated, where they see issues on campus and what they want Winthrop to look like in the future.
According to James Grigg, the vice president of facilities, the total number of responses to the surveys was 1,185. Out of those responses, 37% were alumni, 35% were students and 26% were faculty and staff.
“I think the plan was well received. I had some comments that the attendees liked knowing what projects were ongoing and upcoming. I think most people understand the challenges the campus has and appreciated seeing that there is a plan to start addressing them,” Grigg said
According to the Campus Master Plan Process, the Master Plan is set up in three phases. The first phase is to gather information by conducting tours, holding interviews and focus groups and creating a plan. The second phase includes scenario planning. The final phase is to draft a plan and to conduct final presentations.
In the Master Plan presentation held in September 2021, various infrastructure update plans were presented. A few update proposals include new IT servers and technology, chiller replacements and WiFi upgrades.
Students have a consensus complaint concerning the WiFi on campus. The majority of student’s classwork is online and due to Covid, teachers are continuing to teach their classes via Zoom. Due to the unreliable internet, students are constantly unable to turn in their work, being kicked out of Zoom calls and unable to connect to the internet in certain places on campus.
“The Wi–Fi should be fixed because it impairs our ability to do our best work in a timely manner,” said freshman business major Jade Scott. “When we registered for classes for early registration on Nov. 2, 2021, I heard so many stories of people who did not get the classes they wanted because the Wi–Fi crashed.”
According to the Master Plan, the upcoming project to update the Wi–Fi will cost around $2 million.
Current ongoing projects include replacing the roof of the Coliseum, wrapping up the Johnson Theater repairs, upgrading the Wi–Fi in Phelps and reopening Starbucks in Digs in early November.
In the future, the university plans to replace the roofs of several buildings, including the West Center, Dacus Library and Joynes Hall. Each roof replacement will cost between $600,000 and $1,400,000 depending on the building and the severity of the repairs needed.
“The most important aspect of the Master Plan is to provide a framework and recommendation to the future direction of the campus. Acknowledging what physical changes need to be made to improve the campus to support academic, recruiting-retention, residential halls, and campus appearance and function,” Grigg said.
