Columns: When did work on the current Physical Master Plan begin?
Sniff: The current project was begun in 1996, in part to meet guidelines for accreditation and also in response to a directive to all University System institutions from the board of regents that such plans be developed.

Columns: Who has been involved in this?
Sniff: The project got under way when President Knapp appointed a facilities planning committee, which in turn hired Ayers/Saint/Gross, a Baltimore-based architectural firm that specializes in campus planning, to serve as consultants in developing a plan. In the spring and summer of 1997, the firm gathered background information by conducting more than 2,400 interviews with students, faculty, staff and administrators on campus.

Columns: That was about the time the university was searching for a new president. How did the administrative transition affect the plan?
Sniff: When Dr. Adams arrived here in the fall of 1997, he appointed an oversight executive committee, chaired by Allan Barber, to work closely with the planners. Dr. Adams also has taken an active personal interest in the process. We’ve walked all over campus with him on several occasions, and he’s also traveled to the University of Virginia, another client of Ayers/Saint/Gross, to see examples of architectural solutions to problems similar to those at UGA.

Columns: Why was it important to get so much input?
Sniff: Adam Gross, who’s one of the principals of Ayers/Saint/Gross, has a process he uses in developing a master plan for a campus. And that involves getting a lot of input. He and his staff have visited campus three days each month for more than a year. They rode campus buses, interviewed students on the street and walked through buildings so that they would have a good feel for what UGA looks like and what people think about the physical facilities. They even sat in on some classes.

Columns: What else went into formulating the plan?
Sniff: Ayers/Saint/Gross contracted with other firms to work on specific parts of the master plan. Heery International, an Atlanta engineering firm, worked on existing physical infrastructure. Hughes, Good, O’Leary and Ryan, landscape architects, inventoried existing topographic conditions. Paulien and Associates out of Denver worked on academic space planning. LRE Engineering looked at traffic patterns. The nature of the process is that multiple activities run parallel. Ayers/Saint/Gross is responsible for pulling everything together in a seamless, sustainable plan.

Columns: What happened next?
Sniff: With all this information as a basis, guiding principles were developed. From those guiding principles, various planning scenarios have been envisioned. The next step is soliciting reaction to these possibilities. So a presentation has been developed to show directions the university could grow. That was shared with the University of Georgia Foundation board of trustees at their May meeting and with deans and other senior administrators at a retreat this fall. Now we’re getting ready to review the plan with a broader audience.

Columns: Have there been attempts to mesh this plan with Athens-Clarke County plans?
Sniff: At the same time the university was developing its Physical Master Plan, the Athens-Clarke County government also was working on a master plan project. We’ve worked with city manager Al Crace and John Stockbridge, the director of city planning, and others to cross-pollinate the planning groups.

Columns: And the plan ultimately goes to the board of regents?
Sniff: Yes, after we get feedback in this stage. The regents want capital spending requests tied to the master plan. They want to see sustained implementation. But the plan won’t sit there stagnant, it will have to change and evolve.