Academic Commons Planning Committee Meeting Minutes

Monday, May 8, 2006

Present: Jane Boomer, Alan Boyd, John Bucher, Ray English, Leo Evans, Jessica Grim, Shozo Kawaguchi, Cynthia Murnan, Anne Sherif, Fred Zwegat

1. Physical Plant Issues.

   Leo Evans joined us to discuss a variety of physical plant issues related to the Academic Commons project. Leo’s role will be to coordinate the building aspects of the project with users, the college administration, and the architect. He will facilitate the process of choosing a planning architect and will secure approval for the architect from the administration.

   One of the questions we’ll need to decide early on is how far the architectural planning will go. At a minimum the architect would develop a program, which is a written description of the project. The program would also consider spaces and the relationship of various spaces in the project. An additional step would be to develop schematics, which would include some designs and floor plans. Going to the schematic stage would produce a better sense of total project cost.

   For the process of choosing an architect we will probably look closely at three to five design firms. We could do a formal RFP for some firms or we could just chose one firm that we think is best and ask for a proposal.

   Leo will look into the question of how much it would cost for the programming and schematic design phases. Architects will typically pay their own costs to come to Oberlin for an initial conversation about the project. The college would pay costs once the architect is chosen. It was agreed that we will solicit information from a somewhat larger number of firms and then choose those who could come to campus, based on the information they submit.

   Leo emphasized the importance of thinking about the entire design team that’s behind the architect. We want to make sure that whatever architect we choose has access to good expertise relating to all phases of the project (such as electrical and plumbing design and knowledge of information technology).

   The question of the larger building context was discussed. It may be desirable to do a study of the entire building to ensure that the Commons project fits with our sense of long-range building development.

   Another question that we will need to explore is how much direction we want to give the architect versus how much freedom they would have to shape the overall project.

   The group received a brief overview of the visit by Terry Hajduk, an architect from the Columbus area. He met with Leo, John, Alan, and Ray on Thursday, May 4. He presented his design philosophy and also showed plans of some of the projects that he has completed.

2. Workshop.

   The group agreed that it would be desirable to bring Terry Hajduk here to conduct a half-day workshop that would be designed to clarify the process of project design from an architectural viewpoint. Leo will get in touch with him and explore the possibility of doing the workshop on either May 23 or May 25.

3. Communication.

   The group looked briefly at a public web site for the project that has been designed by Megan Mitchell. The group agreed that the web site was the best way to communicate with library and CIT staff as well as anyone else who is interested in the project. The site will include basic documents and the minutes of all meetings.

4. Café subcommittee.

   The café subcommittee is scheduled to meet next on Thursday, May 11. The group will hear a presentation from a local vendor regarding gourmet coffee and pastry vending options. There may also be an initial financial model for one of the café options.

5. Space subcommittee.

   The space subcommittee has not yet met.

6. Staff meeting on May 31.

   There will be a meeting of all staff who work in Mudd Center on the morning of Wednesday May 31. The purpose of the meeting will be to share information about the commons project and also share information about individual work responsibilities. Cindy and Jessica are taking the lead on this. They will meet with Ray and John to discuss the overall approach to the meeting.

7. Next meeting.

   The next meeting of the Academic Commons planning group will be on Friday, May 19, at 10:00 a.m. in the Thornton Room in Mudd.

Minutes by Ray English