Context for Planning
Comprehensive campus planning efforts at UWM include land use development, facility conditions assessments, space occupancy/use/utilization evaluation, utility and energy planning, open space, and financial feasibility.
UWM’s last long-range physical plan was completed in 2010. This plan focused on increased graduate enrollment, and increased faculty and staff, in support of research expansion. In addition to the main Kenwood Campus, various satellite locations were explored and implemented. These “Opportunity Sites” supported the growth of research and academic programming:
- School of Freshwater Sciences
- Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Center
- Zilber College of Public Health
- Innovation Campus Accelerator Building
- Establishment of Northwest Quadrant
Since 2010 plan, quadrant plans have been completed for the Northwest Quadrant and the Southwest Quadrant. Maintaining a comprehensive, updated long-range plan is a requirement of the state, which becomes the foundation for UWM’s Capital Budget Plan.
UWM’s Upcoming Long-Range Campus Plan Update
Campus Planning is preparing to launch a campus-wide planning effort, slated to begin in the summer of 2026. The planning process will include two phases: Exploration (planned for 2026-27) and Development (planned for 2027-2028). The planning scope includes:
- Campus Space Inventory and Planning: Occupancy, Use, and Utilization
- Facility Conditions Assessment
- Academic Strategic Facilities Planning
- Student Support Services Planning
- Department of Student Affairs Planning: Dining, Union, Housing, UREC and Athletics
- UWM Satellite Location Planning
- Campus Utility, Energy, and Infrastructure Planning
- Exterior Open/Green Space Planning
Goals include updating the guiding principles, goals, and strategies of UWM’s 2010 plan; updating UWM’s physical environment plan to advance student success; identifying strategic, actionable facility and capital development priorities for the next 10-20 years; aligning plan recommendations with UWM’s capital and academic strategic plans; developing campus space use and occupancy guidelines; and satisfying the State of Wisconsin Planning Requirement.
Other Campus Planning Projects
Dining & Facility Modernization Pre-Design: Union & Sandburg Hall (2026)