Campus Master Plan enters final draft phase

By Andy Ober, University Communications
Tuesday
Faculty and staff gather around large printed campus maps during a Campus Master Plan focus group session. Participants stand closely together, reviewing and discussing the plans spread across a table while a facilitator points to specific areas on the map.

Members of the master plan advisory committee look at campus maps as part of a focus group session. The master plan effort resumed in the fall of 2025 after pauses due to leadership changes and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ray Byrd/Facilities Management

The University of Arizona Campus Master Plan is entering its final draft phase after months of focus groups, workshops and campuswide engagement. The plan will guide development of the nearly 400-acre main campus and align long-term investments with the university's strategic imperatives.

The current master plan was last approved in 2009 and is now past its useful life, said Josh Wright, chief facilities and planning officer. The Arizona Board of Regents requires universities to maintain and periodically update their plans. Wright said the updated plan will serve as a guiding document for the next decade as university leaders determine where and how to invest in physical space.

"The plan sits just under our strategic imperatives and helps answer how we do things, where things go and what our priorities are," Wright said. "Our physical space – the built environment – is critical to our research, academic and community engagement missions."

Josh Wright

Josh Wright

The plan does not mandate specific construction projects but instead provides a framework to guide future decision-making. Wright said the process emphasizes looking at the built environment from an institutional perspective rather than department by department.

A shared campus

Work on the updated plan has been underway for several years, with hundreds of faculty, staff, students and community members participating. Since the effort resumed in the fall of 2025 after pauses due to leadership changes and the COVID-19 pandemic, stakeholders have taken part in focus groups, open houses and facilitated visioning sessions. Audiences have included deans, Faculty Senate, Staff Council, research leaders, Athletics, operational units and neighborhood groups.

Draft materials, presentations, meeting minutes and previous master plan documents are available at the university's master plan website, where community members can also submit comments and review updates.

"This is a shared campus that we all own and experience in our own ways," Wright said. "This process is most impactful if it is intentionally transparent and inclusive from day one."

Anona Miller

Anona Miller

Among those participating in the focus groups is Anona Miller, manager of alternate transportation with Parking and Transportation Services.

"They talked a lot about the current condition of campus – the layout, the buildings, the data – and that really opened up the discussion of what we want things to look like in the decades to come."

Miller, whose position focuses on transportation planning and bike infrastructure, said her input has centered on secure bike parking, more green spaces and easier ways to navigate campus as a pedestrian or cyclist.

Mary Venezia, assistant vice president for undergraduate admissions, is part of the master plan advisory team and said her focus is on modernizing existing assets, infrastructure planning and creating a cohesive campus identity to support student success.

"Buildings and open spaces shape how people experience campus," she said. "We want development to reinforce a strong sense of place."

Mary Venezia

Mary Venezia

Venezia said it's important for the team to think beyond buildings. Taking utilities, energy systems and long-term infrastructure coordination into account will help the university avoid reactive retrofits, she said.

Emerging priorities

Wright said trends have emerged throughout the last round of stakeholder meetings. They include:

  • Aligning the plan with the university's strategic imperatives
  • Renewing academic, research, residential and core campus infrastructure to support long-term resilience
  • Implementing a cohesive residential campus model that builds community, belonging and engagement
  • Expanding the network of open space and bike and pedestrian routes while improving connectivity to the city of Tucson

  • Making efficient use of existing buildings, land and infrastructure while identifying opportunities for strategic redevelopment and adaptive reuse

    Faculty and staff sit in a meeting room during a Campus Master Plan focus group session. A presenter stands at the front near a podium while a slide reading “Campus Master Plan Update: Delivering on Our Promise” is projected on the screen. Attendees are seated in rows of chairs, listening and taking notes.

    The plan will guide development of the nearly 400-acre main campus and align long-term investments with the university's strategic imperatives.

    Ray Byrd/Facilities Management
What comes next

Wright said the final draft is expected in April, with Arizona Board of Regents approval anticipated in the fall. Those who would like to share input can email masterplan@arizona.edu.

Wright said his team made a commitment early in this process to respond personally to every email or inquiry.

"Everybody's experience is authentic and valuable," Wright said. "This campus belongs to everyone who works, studies and lives in and around it."

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