Hamden Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously on July 23 to approve the construction of temporary offices in the College of Arts and Sciences parking lot following a public hearing.

[media-credit name=”Stephen MacLeod” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]The approved plans call for three modular structures that will contain 21 offices. The offices are approved for three years, with an option to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission and ask for an extension. The offices will be ready for the 2019-20 academic year. They will provide offices for new 15 full-time faculty.

Diane Stock, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, told the commission that without the temporary offices, there would not be enough space for 12 of these hires. Stock continued by saying that the full-time faculty are part of an effort to reduce the number of adjunct professors and that the new hires can help provide a more robust way.

The commission questioned Vice President of Facilities and Capital Planning Sal Filardi on a wide range of subjects concerning the university’s construction plans before voting to approve the offices. During the hearing, Filardi told the council the university is working with a firm to create a comprehensive master facilities plan.

Filardi anticipates the plan to be finished around April 2020. He told The Chronicle that he hopes the master planning process will be “very similar in terms of community engagement” to the strategic plan.

“We’ll reach out to everybody,” Filardi said. “Faculty, students, the whole community. And we intend to also bring leaders of Hamden into that conversation to really make sure that we have a plan that not only serves our needs, but serves town-gown needs going forward.”

Filardi said that he hopes to see town hall-style events to inform and hear from the Quinnipiac community.

Filardi also touted the progress of ongoing projects. He talked on the ongoing renovations to the Rocky Top Student Center to add a pub that will offer additional food service and alcohol along with other general improvements to the dining area.

He also mentioned that President Olian’s promised health and wellness center has officially entered the critical programming stage of development. In this stage of development, the exact measurements and details of an architectural project are nailed down. Although Filardi said that it is early to finalize a location for the building, the university is looking at areas around the Athletic and Recreation Center on Mount Carmel Campus due to its central location between the residential halls and the main campus.

The committee also questioned Filardi on including the investment into dorm renovations, how the university plans to house students displaced due to the renovations of Larson, Perlroth and Troup and the furnishing of university-owned off-campus residences.