As discussions about how to reconstruct Central Campus take shape, graduate and professional students are taking steps to ensure the newly designed space accommodates an expanded graduate student population.
As discussions about how to reconstruct Central Campus take shape, graduate and professional students are taking steps to ensure the newly designed space accommodates an expanded graduate student population.
Scott Selig, assistant vice president for capital assets, presented the current master plan for Central at Tuesday night’s Graduate and Professional Student Council meeting. While fielding questions about housing capacity and the overarching goals of the construction, he encouraged graduate students to advocate for their community during the ongoing planning process.
“Everything you see in one of these, it will change,” he said as he showed off overhead drawings of the Central Campus master plan for the next 50 to 100 years. “We’re generating this plan as we go along so you can really have an impact.”
The primary goal of Central, Selig said, is to connect East and West Campuses by creating a transportation corridor that can accommodate both pedestrians and bicyclists. The campus will be constructed for higher population density that will allow more square footage without demolishing any existing green spaces.
The general layout of the buildings features a core of apartments as well as a gathering area. A grocery store and some offices will be part of the town center, as well as some space for organizations. Committees that will recommend exactly what should go on Central will be formed after the Board of Trustees meeting this weekend.
Currently Central houses about 1,000 beds, about 200 of which are reserved for graduate and professional students. As the undergraduate population expands by 200 students over the next four years, however, more beds will be needed on Central, and graduate students may be denied on-campus housing unless the number of total beds is increased.
Selig said that when new apartments are constructed on Central, graduate housing would likely be distinct from undergraduate housing “because we’ve heard loud and clear that those are two separate communities.” He also noted that the University was still considering how much graduate student housing to build.
It is also evaluating housing with different price ranges and different levels of amenities, such as laundry facilities and tennis courts.
GPSC held a meeting last week for graduate students who currently live on Central to voice their desires for the new development. Jenny Woodruff, a graduate student in music, said the primary concerns were the needs for public meeting space and parking. Students have also discussed building a graduate social center on Central Campus, as the University now educates more graduate students than undergraduates.
Duke still has not established how it will pay to develop Central, which will likely cost more than $100 million for the first phase, but Selig said leasing apartment buildings for outside companies to rent to graduate students was one option for future growth.
In other business:
The former graduate student Young Trustee, Tomalei Vass, explained the role of the position. She noted that the GPSC Trustee must be aware of the needs of all the various graduate and professional schools but act in the best interest of the whole University.
GPSC is accepting applications starting now until Jan. 13.
The council voted to support a policy outlining institutional commitment to environmental sustainability in academics, operations and the community. The Duke University Greening Initiative will present the guidelines to senior administrators for adoption.
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