"Historical Perspective" and "University and Community" outlined the historical and social setting of The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This section outlines the University's brief to the Master Planning Consultant Team. 

Soon after his appointment in 1989, Chancellor James H. Woodward set in motion the development of a new master plan for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Early in the process he established the Campus Master Plan Task Force which consisted of representatives from particular groups and disciplines with an interest in the future of the campus. 
For several months before the appointment of Master Planning Consultants, the Task Force worked hard to draw up guidelines concerning the qualities that they would like to see embodied in the expanded University. After considerable debate, they composed two sets of criteria. 

The first set is called "Visions and Values" and consists of 10 balanced dualities which refer to the ambiance the University should have and the qualities it might promote. The second set of criteria is called "Planning Assumptions"; they are thirty in number and are intended to be a more quantitative guide to help the Master Planning Team in its work. 

• NATURAL AND URBAN

The University values its unique natural setting. Thus, the natural features of the site topography and landscape shall influence the placement and arrangement of buildings. 
While valuing the retention of natural areas which evolve overtime, the University buildings shall create dense urban spaces with multiple uses and diverse features. 

The term "urban" connotes dense building arrangements characterized by overlapping patterns of use and activity, modification overtime, and clearly defined, humanely-scaled external spaces. 

 

 

• INDIVIDUALITY AND COMMUNALITY

The University, in its programs and its physical environment, shall nurture the diverse individuality of each of its members while the campus plan shall also foster commonality, community, and those contributions which define and add to the commonwealth.

• TECHNOLOGY AND HUMANISM

The University shall encourage technological advancement while also promoting understanding of enduring human values and concerns by forging a creative, synergistic and dynamic harmony between technology and humanism.

• CHANGE AND PERMANENCE

The University shall promote and instigate change and innovation, while weaving strands of permanence which recall its origins, nurture its traditions, and preserve its past.

• REGIONAL AND NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL

The University shall preserve and promote a distinct sense if its particular regionalism while actively connecting to the realms of national and international discourse and exchange.

• SPIRITUAL AND SECULAR

The University shall serve as a forum for reflective activity generating a sense of place and of self, while at the same time creating a focus of productive actions and practical decision-making.

• FREE SPIRIT AND DISCIPLINE

The University shall emphasize the creativity of a free spirit, spontaneous action and serendipity, while promoting the security and regulation of self generated order.

• PEDESTRIAN AND VEHICULAR

The University shall establish the highest priority for pedestrians on campus while recognizing the need for a soundly reasoned system of circulation involving vehicles of various kinds, including bicycles. This shall be achieved through appropriate measures of circulation, separation, and articulation.

• NURTURING THE CORE & CENTRIFUGAL URBANISM

The University shall nurture the development of its internal mission while at the same time establishing alliances with external communities for mutual benefit. To further these ends, an attractive, secure and productive academic core shall be fostered while promoting, as its corollary, an attractive, enduring periphery.

• RESIDENTIAL AND COMMUTING

The University shall promote richly diverse activities and personal development that shall be an integral part of life on and near the campus. At the same time, the campus with its amenities shall be conveniently available to commuter students, alumni, faculty, staff, and visitors.

1. The Campus Master Plan and facilities shall accommodate a future student head count of no greater than 25,000.
2. The percentage distribution of full-time and part-time students, undergraduates and graduates, and among academic disciplines shall remain the same as in the fall of 1991.
3. Thirty percent of the enrolled students shall reside on-campus.
4. The campus shall be developed around a primary academic center which shall give preference to pedestrian traffic.
5. The development of academic areas shall be guided by organizing buildings around humanely scaled quadrangles which relate to each other, to site characteristics, and to adjacent areas. These inviting "exterior rooms" shall symbolize and facilitate the exchange of ideas between members of the University community and the wider region.
6. The quadrangles shall have a spatial ratio (land width/building height) range of between 3/1 and 8/1.
7. While separate buildings can be expected for individual colleges and collections of disciplines within the larger colleges, to the extent possible, these buildings shall be geographically connected.
8. Teaching and research spaces shall continue to be integrated within the same building and specialized research facilities shall continue to be intermixed with other academic facilities.
9. Faculty offices and college/departmental administrative offices shall continue to be integrated with classroom and teaching laboratory spaces within the same building.
10. With the possibility of special exceptions for serious academic and institutional reasons, the practice of having one centrally located campus library shall continue.
11. New buildings shall be 3 to 5 stories in height, depending upon the building program, and the natural and built environmental context.
12. In most cases, site planning shall enable horizontal building expansion.
13. Student housing shall be generally constructed around the edges of and in close proximity to the primary academic area(s), and shall be integrated into a campus system of safe pedestrian circulation.
14. An appropriate location for a day care center shall be considered as desirable which is easily accessible to faculty, staff, and students and which is on campus or immediately adjacent to the campus.
15. The campus planning process shall seek to improve environmental quality through conservation, pollution control, and energy conscious building design, and thus establish UNCC as a regional leader in this regard.
16. The Campus Master Plan shall consider options for the location of fraternities and sororities both on and near campus.
17. The acreage devoted to the outdoor playing fields shall be expanded as enrollment increases from 15,000 to 25,000 students.
18. Outdoor playing fields for intercollegiate sports shall be contiguous to intramural playing fields.
19. Outdoor playing fields solely used for intramural shall be conveniently located to serve on campus and commuter students.
20. No football stadium shall be constructed on property currently owned by the University.
21. Attractive park-type spaces shall be incorporated into the Campus Master Plan.
22. Except where parking is required to be immediately adjacent to a facility, parking shall generally be on the edges of the academic center(s). Any large increases in the number of parking spaces shall be obtained with parking decks carefully designed to be visually attractive and appear to be part of the campus design.
23. The Campus Master Plan shall promote increased accessibility through transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities.
24. The Campus Master Plan shall provide for a clearly recognizable hierarchy of circulation and directional signage on campus.
25. Entrances to the campus shall be designed to provide convenient information and friendly access from surrounding areas while supporting the security of the students, staff and faculty.
26. The Campus Master Plan shall promote a strong relationship between the University and the communities of the region.
27. The Campus Master Plan shall be integrated with Charlotte-Mecklenburg public transportation, such as the proposed light rail line on Highway 29, and shall encourage greater use of alternate transportation modes.
28. The Campus Master Plan shall be developed in concert with the planning of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Northeast District.
29. A major conference and community center for social, civic and cultural functions shall be considered as desirable to be built on campus: a fine performing arts center shall also be considered as desirable to be constructed on the campus.
30. The Campus Master Plan shall accommodate the placement of a new residence for the Chancellor.