Dear CSUN Community Member:

When the first students came to the Northridge campus in 1956, we had no computers. Today, nearly 50 years later, Cal State Northridge is home to more than 8,000 computers that are absolutely essential to our learning process. The lesson here, of course, is that this university is constantly changing and evolving to better serve our students and our community.

University to Update Campus Physical Master Plan
For that reason, during the coming 18 months, Cal State Northridge will be conducting a comprehensive review and update of the university's Campus Physical Master Plan to better envision our future. This periodic process, which began this spring and will continue through fall 2005, will try to anticipate the needs of the university during the next 20 to 30 years.

Community Input and Involvement is Important
An important element of this planning process is community input and involvement. During fall 2004, the university will be seeking public input and comment through public meetings and other means on an updated Campus Physical Master Plan, and then more review in spring 2005 on an accompanying Environmental Impact Report on the updated master plan. Ultimately, both documents will go to the California State University Board of Trustees for approval.

Campus Master Planning Committee Will Guide Process
In January, President Jolene Koester convened a more than 20-member Campus Physical Master Planning Committee, which includes community representatives, to help guide the planning process and recommend a team of consultants who will prepare the draft plans. The consultants should be selected this June, allowing initial planning work to begin this summer.

Plan Update Will Look at Enrollment Capacity and Other Features
The most recent CSU Board of Trustees approval of our Campus Physical Master Plan was in 1998. The review during the coming year will look at the university's enrollment capacity; the needs for academic and other facilities; the design and layout of the campus, including future plans for the North Campus land north of Lassen Street; support components such as student and employee housing, parking, athletic facilities and food services; and many other issues.

Extensive Community Communication Planned
This letter is the first in a series of updates the university will provide to community members as the planning process progresses. Once the consulting team is selected, we also expect to launch a university Web site that will provide updated information, as well as provide a central e-mail address for campus and community comments on the planning process. The draft master plan and EIR materials, once prepared, will be public documents easily available for review.

Throughout the process, university representatives will be available to assist community members interested in the university's planning process. Among those will be Community Relations Director Judy Nutter (judith.nutter@csun.edu / (818) 677-2123 ) and Public Relations Director John Chandler
(john.chandler@csun.edu / (818) 677-5674 ).

Together, we will help shape a plan that keeps Cal State Northridge vital in the decades ahead as the intellectual, economic and cultural heart of the San Fernando Valley and beyond.

Sincerely,

William Jennings

Chair, Campus Physical Master Planning Committee
Professor and Chair, Department of Finance, Real Estate and Insurance