The future development of the physical UD campus will now be influenced by students, faculty, alumni and Dayton residents that are interested in the continuous progression of the campus master plan.

The addition of a new Web site will allow the Dayton community to offer its input, suggestions and concerns toward the shaping of the layout of the campus.

'The master plan is a road map to the evolution of the physical campus,' said Richard Perales, director of university campus planning. 'The new Web site will be a better means of communication with students and neighbors, so when the master plan is done, the entire community will know what's going to happen.'

Perales was also in charge of the 2002 campus plan, which has seen an impressive 70-80 percent of the plan accomplished throughout the years.

The new master plan, however, will encompass more areas due to the constant growth of the campus. The focus will range from effective land-use strategies, including new construction and renovation proposals, to a plan for the newly acquired 50-acre land.

Design concepts for student housing, recreational facilities and the university environment, which includes landscape, university parking,and vehicle routes will also be addressed, stretching to the campus edges and making connections to the Dayton neighborhoods.

To help lead the consulting team in developing the new master plan, UD enlisted representatives from Burt Hill, an international planning and design firm. Burt Hill retains more than 100 years of college campus planning experience with its team of architect and engineer planners.

'Burt Hill will look at all 250 acres of land the university owns to determine how to best utilize the land,' Perales said.

Currently, Burt Hill is gathering information by conducting a series of interviews, surveys, and focus groups to hear what people want to see happen to the campus over the next five to 10 years.

The project is expected to finish at the end of the academic year in May and be approved by the board of trustees. When finished, UD hopes to incorporate the feedback from people interested in following the progress of the new campus master plan gathered from the new Web site.

To leave your comments and view the campus master plan, go to UDcampusmasterplan.udayton.edu.