Last weekend, during her inaugural address, West Chester University President Laurie Bernotsky talked about the courage it takes to make moves during times of uncertainty, saying it can be appealing to hold your ground, but if you ever want to get where you’re going, you’ve got to move forward.

“You start small,” she said. “You do that small courageous thing, and you like yourself a bit. Then, you do a slightly larger courageous thing, and you like yourself more…” she said

Well, six months into her new role, Dr. Bernostsky must be feeling pretty good about herself, because despite no end to the uncertainty, West Chester University has presented its 10+-year master plan.

In an email to students and the WCU community last month, WCU Vice President for Finance and Administration Todd Murphy wrote, “Over the past year, we have worked diligently to develop the [Campus Master Plan]—a strategic framework and 10+ year vision to enhance WCU’s physical campus… We have gathered valuable input from the WCU community, ensuring that this plan reflects our shared goals and aspirations for the future.”

The plan includes proposed improvements to the following physical areas: Housing (yes!), academic facilities, student services, general campus, campus support, and sustainability – and represents the university’s utopian state. It’s best best-case vision for the future.

“The way I would read [the plan] is that if money were not an option, everything would be accomplished.”

Dr. Jeffery L. Osgood, Jr., WCU Interim Provost

If money were no option

“The way I would read [the plan] is that if money were not an option, everything would be accomplished,” shared WCU executive vice president and interim provost Dr. Jeffery L. Osgood, Jr.

Money, of course, will be an option, and how projects are funded will depend on which category they fall into; housing, for example, has different funding requirements than academic buildings. There are also the various townships that the university will need to contend with. They are currently working with East Bradford on a plan to upgrade and expand the South Campus Apartments.

These improvements will provide enough new beds to allow them to remove the modular dorms at the end of the promised five years without losing any available housing, a key goal for the university.

“Our number one priority right now is housing,” said Dr. Osgood, who fully agrees that WCU needs more beds. “Our students want to live [on campus],” he said.

Housing first

To make this happen, WCU has two key metrics it is watching. First, they have made an internal pledge to cap admissions at 17,700, a peak WCU hit just before COVID. Since then, they have been hovering around the 17,400 mark with no plans to actively increase enrollment.

Second, they agreed not to let available beds drop below 5,300 or the current number of on-campus housing spots. That means WCU has to find a way to add more beds before renovations or demolition of a dorm – as is planned for Killinger Hall – can happen. This is why they began expansion options by adding Matlack Court, and why, after South Campus, housing priorities will turn to Lawrence Hall.

Much of the activity of the former dining hall is now being handled by the new Sciences & Engineering Center and Commons (SECC). The Learning Assistance and Resource Center, as well as the school’s Counseling and Psychological Services, will likely have to move elsewhere.

Next Steps

Next steps will be to present the plan independently to both West Chester and West Goshen. While details, particularly around exactly how much the University will be able to fund, still need to be worked out, there is vision and that is exciting to see.

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