The Campus Master Plan guides the physical and capital development of UIW's San Antonio campuses, which include the Broadway Campus, Feik School of Pharmacy, Rosenberg School of Optometry, School of Osteopathic Medicine and School of Physical Therapy.

 

Executive Summary

The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) One Word Campus Plan 2020 identifies the property, infrastructure and facilities initiatives important to advancing the university’s strategic goals over the coming 10 to 20 years.

The planning began in the fall of 2017 at the initiative of Dr. Thomas M. Evans as he began his tenure as UIW’s 10th president. He envisioned a plan that would be visionary, strategic, and realistic, and a process that was comprehensive, and participatory resulting in a set of recommendations rooted in UIW’s mission, history and community. He saw the opportunity to enlist the collective genius of UIW’s most ardent and informed supporters — its students, faculty, staff, and trustees — to create a plan that would guide investment in projects that would ensure UIW’s advancement in American Catholic higher education.

Campus Master Plan Highlights

  • Campus Master Plan (CMP) initial planning begins
  • Student Engagement Center opens
  • UIWSOM opens in four newly purchased buildings on Brooks Campus
  • $1 million investment made in network equipment and WiFi upgrade
  • Dober Lidksy Mathey begins collaboration with UIW
  • Campus Master Planning Task Force (CMPTF) established
  • Campus and space analysis and university room inventory undertaken
  • CMPTF identified six major themes and formed working groups to explore each issue in greater detail
  • CMP presented to and approved by the Board of Trustees
  • Daniel Sullivan Baseball Field renovated
  • New turf installed in Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium
  • H-E-B Softball Field renovated
  • Ann Barshop Natatorium scoreboard renovated
  • Two small parking lots adjacent to Broadway campus acquired
  • CMPTF made recommendations and concluded its work
  • Lake|Flato and SWA complete Spirit Reach Project Study
  • UIW acquires property at 4119 Broadway
  • Dober Lidsky Mathey begins developing Campus Plan V2 in light of property acquisition
  • CMP update presented to the faculty
  • Liza and Jack Lewis Center of Americas announced as anchor tenant
  • Formation of Campus Facilities Committee
  • 4119 Broadway building named Founders Hall
  • CMP Community Update
  • Mabry Tennis Center courts renovated
  • UIW purchases three additional buildings on Brooks Campus
  • UIW seal installed on Founders Hall
  • Township Apartments acquired, renovated and opened
  • Lake|Flato - Founders Hall Feasibility Study presented to Board of Trustees
  • Broadway Campus academic buildings receive $1.6 million tech upgrade
  • Founders Hall Vision Statement and Major Themes established
  • Founders Hall renovation officially begins
  • AGCM selected to manage Founders Hall renovation
  • Payroll, Title IX, HR, IT (and their nearly 100 employees) and AVS Lab relocated to Founders Hall
  • Founders Hall parking lot and garage open
  • Spirit Reach trails and pathways concepts further develop
  • Bexar County approved Spirit Reach initial funding
  • Athletics area concept development continues
  • Architectural/engineering and construction firms for Founders Hall selected
  • Renovated Dubuis Residence Hall opens
  • Campus Master Plan Addendum completed
  • Board of Trustees approves updated Campus Master Plan

Campus Master Plan Focus Areas

Founders Hall rendering

Founders Hall

Located at 4119 Broadway, Founders Hall is a 10-acre property that includes an eight-story building with approximately 350,000 square feet of office space, a 500-car parking garage, and a surrounding lot of hundreds of additional spaces. The property expanded the footprint of the Broadway Campus by 20 percent and its ample parking has considerably alleviated congestion.

Careful and strategic renovation and design have the greatest potential to transform the Broadway Campus. Founders Hall is the planned site for the Liza and Jack Lewis Center of the Americas, as well as academic, student services and administrative purposes. Additionally, Founders Hall will provide critical swing space for occupants of the Administration Building as renovation occurs there.

Learn more about Founders Hall

UIW Administration Building

Learning Spaces

Improving academic facilities includes addressing both digital and physical infrastructure needs. A $1.6 million investment modernized technological capabilities in virtually all academic buildings on Broadway Campus and at the Feik School of Pharmacy, Rosenberg School of Optometry and School of Physical Therapy campuses. Physical space improvement and development is planned in phases and will be seen throughout renovations in the Administration Building and further development of Founders Hall.

Students and community in front of Dubuis Hall

Residential Campus

Providing an exceptional living and learning environment through improved academic and residential facilities is at the root of UIW’s capital priorities. The renovated Dubuis Hall and Township Apartments support the increase in demand for student housing and provide an elevated residential experience.

Rendering of Spirit Reach

Green and Pedestrian Campus

Honoring our natural and spiritual heritage is another focal point of the capital priorities. The Spirit Reach project was initiated by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word as an extension of the San Antonio Riverwalk running through the Broadway Campus and leading to the river’s origin at the Blue Hole. The vision for Spirit Reach supports an improved outdoor and pedestrian experience along beautiful, landscaped paths on the Broadway Campus. Spirit Reach would establish another walkable corridor from Founders Hall to the rest of campus north of Hildebrand. Additionally, Spirit Reach offers further opportunity to highlight the natural landscape and historic connection to our neighboring sister ministries.

UIW Convocation Center

Athletics

Continued improvement of UIW Athletic and health and wellness facilities will help to meet the demands of an NCAA Division 1 program and better serve the university as a whole.

As with the previous renovations and improvements to the Daniel Sullivan Baseball Field, H-E-B Field, Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium and Mabry Tennis Courts, future work with emphasize safety, equity, the student-athlete experience, and the spectator experience. The next phase will include renovations to Benson Fieldhouse, the McDermott Convocation Center, with further improvements to Sullivan Field and H-E-B Field.

UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine facade

Brooks Campus

Home to UIW’s School of Osteopathic Medicine, Brooks Campus is located in a fast-growing, but traditionally medically underserved area of San Antonio’s Southside. The recent purchase of three additional buildings on site greatly expanded the campus, which now counts seven buildings totaling 265,000 square feet of classroom, lab, simulation, research, office and campus life space and spread over 23.5 acres. Additionally, the new buildings open up the possibility of establishing an interprofessional learning complex bringing together UIW’s other health professions programs currently located in other areas of the city.

Rendering for pedestrian crossing

Future Projects

The Campus Master Plan includes a long-term vision for the University with concepts spanning 20 years into the future. Among the other projects to be implemented in the future include an improved Admissions space on Broadway Campus in an ideal location for visitors and campus tours. Wellness facilities and outdoor recreation areas/features are also among the long-term projects to be addressed. Accordingly, pedestrian and vehicular circulation patterns will be addressed to ensure maximum efficiency.

 

The Campus Master Plan has roots in the work of the Campus Master Planning Task Force (CMPTF), which provided initial leadership and institutional insights.

UIW selected the team of Dober Lidsky Mathey, Inc., campus and facility planning consultants, and SportsPLAN Studio, athletics and recreation facility planners, to assist with the planning effort.

CMPTF members made recommendations regarding important elements that master planning should address. From the responses, the task force identified six major themes:

  • Academic Infrastructure
  • Business Services and Operations
  • Campus Experience
  • Health Professions
  • Traffic and Safety
  • Standards and Policies

These themes were discussed and later in the process, leveraged to establish Study Groups charged with further investigation of each theme and its impact on the campus plan. The study groups were chaired by CMPTF members with other UIW community members invited to add their perspective and expertise.

The team also conducted interviews with a broad cross-section of UIW faculty, students, staff, and trustees to elicit their perspective and expertise in their various areas of responsibility and concern. From these interviews, campus planning goals were identified.

The plan proposes major projects on the Broadway campus and at the Brooks City campus. These initiatives have been organized into a strategy-driven sequence that is anticipated to be implemented in four phases over the space of 20 to 25 years. The highest priority facility project consistently identified throughout the plan process is the comprehensive renovation of the Columkille Administration Building (AD), the university’s “Old Main” and architectural icon. Accordingly, the plan begins with this major project. This building is critical to the university and must be thoroughly renovated to address maintenance and produce a high-quality environment in as efficient a manner as possible.

While the descriptions above highlighting major projects assumes an implementation timeline of 20 to 25 years, already significant progress has been made in advancing UIW’s strategic and campus master planning goals.