🔒Construction zone: Quinnipiac embarks on becoming “University of the Future”

A new recreation and wellness center that prepares students for a healthy life long after graduation. More space for classrooms and laboratories. New and renovated housing for students who live on campus.

These are a few examples of the upcoming physical changes to Quinnipiac University, which has three locations — including its Mount Carmel, York Hill and North Haven campuses.

The Hamden-based university early this year unveiled a 10-year master facilities plan, “Designing Our Future.” University leaders say it provides broad recommendations, and they are using it as a guide for what the university will look like in the coming decade.

President Judy Olian called the plan a “flexible roadmap” for its long-term campus upgrades.

“This is the envisioning of what might be,” Olian said. “Quinnipiac has always been a university with an eye on the future. This 10-year blueprint captures our vision for innovative opportunities and new initiatives that will enhance the learning and living experiences of our students, the Quinnipiac community, and surrounding towns.”

The university has an enrollment of roughly 9,700 students, who have a range of majors, from business and communications to education, engineering, medicine, nursing, arts and sciences. University leaders said they plan to keep enrollment levels stable, between 9,000 to 10,000.

Ayers Saint Gross, a Baltimore-based architectural firm that specializes in colleges and universities, is working with Quinnipiac leaders and stakeholders on the effort.

Faculty, staff, students, alumni, and members of the Hamden and North Haven communities, have been giving input on what they want the campus to be like.

If the university were to do everything recommended in the master plan, it would cost in the range of “hundreds of millions” of dollars, according to Olian.

“That’s why we are picking and choosing and sequencing it,” she said.

Quinnipiac plans to use a combination of capital budget funds, fundraising through philanthropic programs, and its endowment to finance the changes. Tuition will not be impacted by the projects, according to John Morgan, associate vice president for public relations.

Preparing for life

First up in the master plan: A project aimed at health, wellness and fun. Construction has already begun on a new $45 million, 60,000-square-foot Recreation & Wellness Center on the Mount Carmel campus, near its main entrance.

Sal Filardi, Quinnipiac’s vice president for facilities and capital planning, said leaders decided to build this center first because it “really is a project that everyone can use — from faculty to students.”

It will feature space and programming aimed at recreation and improving health, physical fitness and wellness. There will be a rock climbing wall, space for yoga and meditation, a weight room and exercise space. It will have a central outdoor courtyard featuring a fire pit, where people can enjoy being outside together.

“It will be all health and wellness under one roof, and should have a very positive impact on well-being,” Filardi said. “One of the things we are trying to do is have a facility everyone can use, from day to evening to night.”

The center is expected to be ready for occupancy in Aug. 2022, just in time for students to use it in the 2022-23 academic year.

Olian describes the center as a “holistic well-being project.” Not only will it be a place for students to have fun, it will house a medical facility where students will get treated for illnesses. It will also have a counseling center. Special health and wellness programs will happen there — teaching students how to sleep and eat better or even deal with financial challenges, according to Olian.

Campus living

Quinnipiac’s leaders have instituted a mandatory residential experience for new students, requiring non-commuters to live on campus for three years.

According to Filardi, some of the university’s neighbors have complained about students who live in off-campus housing coming home late or being too noisy.

“Most of our students have been good neighbors, but once in a while we will get complaints about them being too noisy at night,” Filardi said.

A key focus, therefore, is upgrading on-campus residences.

Filardi said the idea is to provide facilities, amenities and housing that attracts students so they want to live on campus.

Toward that end, a project that’s part of the master facilities plan is the current renovation of a residence known as “The Complex” on the Mount Carmel campus. It was built in 1983.

This summer, workers are removing built-in furniture and converting the existing six-person, three-bedroom apartments to house four students instead. The Complex is getting kitchen and bathroom upgrades and new furniture to have a more modern appearance.

Quinnipiac is also looking into a brand new residence hall on the Mount Carmel campus.

Tom Ellett, the university’s chief experience officer, said this new residence hall is still in the scoping phase, which means architects are meeting with students and other stakeholders about potential amenities they would like to have, such as lounge spaces or open areas.

Quinnipiac also is planning a new general academic building on the Mount Carmel campus, with classrooms, lab space, entrepreneurial and collaboration space and faculty offices.

Formal plans for the new residence hall and academic building are still being finalized.

The building projects are all within the existing Quinnipiac footprint, with no plans to acquire additional land for building expansion, Olian said.

According to Filardi, the plan is to do one building at a time. He expects the new academic building and new residence hall will be fully completed within five years.

The master plan also sets aside new open spaces and greenways to encourage the Quinnipiac community to enjoy the outdoors. Plans include making the campuses more pedestrian-friendly, creating new walking trails, and improving access to nearby recreation, such as Sleeping Giant State Park.

Under the plan, all three campuses will have a similar “vibe,” according to Olian.

“If you are in North Haven, York Hill or Mount Carmel, you’ll know this is the Bobcat community and will feel the connections among the campuses,” Olian said.

Community bridge

Quinnipiac’s Hamden campuses are in close proximity to Whitney Avenue, home to several retail shops and restaurants.

The master plan calls for a strategy for the university’s off-campus landholdings, including support for mixed-use development.

Morgan said the university owns 26 parcels with frontage on Whitney Avenue.

Quinnipiac plans to partner with Hamden about the Whitney Avenue corridor’s future.

“The Whitney Avenue corridor is an important priority,” Olian said. “We are interested in engaging in discussions with the community on what might be.”

Olian indicated Quinnipiac has been in initial discussions with a developer about the potential for mixed-use development on Whitney Avenue. University officials said it is still too early in the process to know exactly what that development might entail.

According to Ellett, this phase of the master plan is longer term, and likely two to five years off in the future.

“We will work with Hamden,” Ellett said. “We will ask questions like: What is missing? What services are needed? Might it be a coffee shop? Entertainment? The master plan allows us to collaborate.”

Olian noted that Quinnipiac plays a key role in economic development in its host communities.

“I think the Hamden business community appreciates the economic impact of Quinnipiac as the largest non-government employer in town,” Olian said. “As COVID starkly illustrated, when we don’t have students in town, it is very hard on the businesses. The business community thrives when we thrive.”

Nancy Dudchik, president of the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce, said when the plan was introduced this year that the university has engaged community leaders in its planning process.

“We look forward to working with the university on its master plan, and we are prepared to help in any way to realize its vision," she said.