AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

Advancing Knowledge, Building Community

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SECTION 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...... 1

SECTION 2 INTRODUCTION...... 9

SECTION 3 THE UNIVERSITY AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ...... 11 3.1 History and Academic Profile...... 12 3.2 Mission and Strategic Plan ...... 14 3.3 Students...... 15 3.4 Outreach Opportunities and Service ...... 15 3.5 Economic Contributions...... 17 3.6 Sustainability...... 17

SECTION 4 CAMPUS PLAN OVERVIEW ...... 19 4.1 Campus Development History ...... 20 4.2 Campus Plan Goals ...... 20 4.3 Campus Plan Process...... 20

SECTION 5 POLICIES SHAPING THE FUTURE ...... 23 5.1 Student Needs...... 24 5.2 Enrollment and Personnel ...... 26 5.3 Flexibility...... 26

SECTION 6 EXISTING CAMPUS FEATURES AND PROPOSED PLAN...... 27 6.1 Existing Campus Buildings...... 28 6.2 Proposed Campus Development...... 28

SECTION 7 COMPLIANCE WITH PROVISIONS OF CAMPUS PLAN REGULATIONS (11 DCMR § 210)...... 33 7.1 College or University Which Is an Academic Institution of Higher Learning (Subsection 210.1) ...... 34 7.2 The Use Is Located So That It Is Not Likely to Become Objectionable to Neighboring Property Because of Noise, Traffic, Number of Students, or Other Objectionable Conditions (Subsection 210.2) ...... 34 7.3 Compliance with the Maximum Bulk Requirements (Subsection 210.3)...... 37 7.4 Submission of a Plan for Developing the Campus as a Whole (Subsection 210.4) ...... 37

SECTION 8 PROPOSED CONDITIONS OF CAMPUS PLAN APPROVAL...... 43

SECTION 9 FURTHER PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAST CAMPUS, THE NEBRASKA HALL ADDITION, AND THE MARY GRAYDON CENTER ADDITION...... 47 9.1 Development of the East Campus (former Nebraska Avenue Parking Lot Site) ...... 48 9.2 Nebraska Hall Addition...... 54 9.3 Addition to the Mary Graydon Center ...... 56 TABLE OF EXHIBITS

EXHIBIT 1 STRATEGIC PLAN

EXHIBIT 2 COMMUNITY OUTREACH & PARTNERSHIPS

EXHIBIT 3 DISCUSSION OF COMMUNITY DIALOGUE PROCESS

EXHIBIT 4 OFF-CAMPUS STUDENT CONDUCT POLICIES

EXHIBIT 5 DATA ON HOUSING LOCATIONS OF STUDENTS LIVING IN ZIP CODE AREA 20016

EXHIBIT 6 STUDENT AND EMPLOYEE POPULATION SUMMARY

EXHIBIT 7 CAMPUS AND BUILDING HISTORY (HISTORIC PRESERVATION ELEMENT)

EXHIBIT 8 FLOOR AREA RATIO CALCULATION

EXHIBIT 9 NOT USED

EXHIBIT 10 CAMPUS LOCATION & ILLUSTRATIVE SITE PLANS 10.1 Aerial Photo Showing Main and Tenley Campus 10.2 Main Campus—Existing Illustrative Site Plan 10.3 Tenley Campus—Existing Illustrative Site Plan

EXHIBIT 11 CAMPUS VICINITY MAP

EXHIBIT 12 BUILDING AND LAND USE SITE PLANS 12.1 Existing Main Campus Building and Land Use 12.2 Proposed Main Campus Building and Land Use 12.3 Existing Tenley Campus Building and Land Use 12.4 Proposed Tenley Campus Building and Land Use

EXHIBIT 13 OPEN SPACE SITE PLANS 13.1 Existing Main Campus Open Space 13.2 Proposed Main Campus Open Space 13.3 Existing Tenley Campus Open Space 13.4 Proposed Tenley Campus Open Space

EXHIBIT 14 LANDSCAPE SITE PLANS 14.1 Proposed Main Campus Landscape Plan 14.2 Proposed Tenley Campus Landscape Plan

EXHIBIT 15 CIRCULATION SYSTEM SITE PLANS 15.1 Existing Main Campus Pedestrian and Vehicular Circulation 15.2 Proposed Main Campus Pedestrian and Vehicular Circulation 15.3 Existing Tenley Campus Pedestrian and Vehicular Circulation 15.4 Proposed Tenley Campus Pedestrian and Vehicular Circulation

EXHIBIT 16 UTILITIES SITE PLANS 16.1 Existing Main Campus Utilities 16.2 Existing Tenley Campus Utilities EXHIBIT 17 PROPOSED CAMPUS PLAN 18.1.6d Sports Center Annex Replacement 17.1 Proposed Main Campus Plan Proposed View from Leonard Hall 17.2 Proposed Tenley Campus Plan 18.1.6e Sports Center Annex Replacement Proposed View Campus Road EXHIBIT 18 PROPOSED NEW FACILITIES 18.1.1 Washington College of Law, Tenley Campus 18.1.7 Reeves Field Bleachers 18.1.1a Site Analysis 18.1.7a Reeves Field Bleachers Existing Site 18.1.1b Site Plan Plan 18.1.1c Street Views 18.1.7b Reeves Field Bleachers Existing Section and Photos 18.1.2 Beeghly Addition 18.17.c Reeves Field Bleachers Proposed 18.1.2a Beeghly Addition Existing Site Plan Site Plan 18.1.2b Beeghly Addition Existing Site 18.1.7d Reeves Field Bleachers Proposed Section and Photos View from Reeves Field 18.1.2c Beeghly Addition Proposed Site Plan 18.1.2d Beeghly Addition Proposed View 18.1.8 Kay Spiritual Life Center Addition from Parking Lot 18.1.8a Kay Spiritual Life Center Addition 18.1.2e Beeghly Addition Proposed View Existing Site Plan Campus Road 18.1.8b Kay Spiritual Life Center Addition 18.1.2f Beeghly Addition Proposed View Existing Section and Photos from Reeves Field 18.1.8c Kay Spiritual Life Center Addition Proposed Site Plan 18.1.3 South Hall 18.1.8d Kay Spiritual Life Center Addition 18.1.3a South Hall Existing Site Plan Proposed View from Massachusetts 18.1.3b South Hall Existing Section and Avenue Photos 18.1.3c South Hall Proposed Site Plan 18.1.9 Butler Tunnel Enclosure 18.1.3d South Hall Proposed View from 18.1.9a Butler Tunnel Enclosure Existing Site Fletcher Gate at Rockwood Plan 18.1.9b Butler Tunnel Enclosure Existing 18.1.4 North Hall Section and Photos 18.1.4a North Hall Existing Site Plan 18.1.8c Butler Tunnel Enclosure Proposed 18.1.4b North Hall Existing Section and Site Plan Photos 18.1.4c North Hall Proposed Site Plan EXHIBITS 19, 20, 21 18.1.4d North Hall Proposed View from NEW FACILITIES SUBMITTED FOR Northwest Campus Corner FURTHER PROCESSING

18.1.5 Multipurpose Gymnasium EXHIBIT 19 Nebraska Hall Addition 18.1.5a Multipurpose Gymnasium Existing Plans Site Plan Elevations 18.1.5b Multipurpose Gymnasium Existing Sections Section and Photos 18.1.5c Multipurpose Gymnasium Proposed Site Plan EXHIBIT 20 Mary Graydon Center Addition Plans 18.1.5d Multipurpose Gymnasium Proposed View from Leonard Hall Elevations Sections 18.1.5e Multipurpose Gymnasium Proposed View Campus Road EXHIBIT 21 East Campus 18.1.6 Sports Center Annex Replacement Plans 18.1.6a Sports Center Annex Replacement Elevations Existing Site Plan Sections 18.1.6b Sports Center Annex Replacement Existing Section and Photos EXHIBIT 22 TRANSPORTATION REPORT & 18.1.6c Sports Center Annex Replacement TRANSPORTATION TECHNICAL ANALYSIS Proposed Site Plan

SECTION 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 1 SECTION 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

American University embraces its role as a private university with a public responsibility.

Appreciating Our Role Among the world’s great cities, Washington, D.C., can claim distinction as the epicenter where power, politics, thought leaders, and solutions to the challenges of the day all converge. As a vibrant institution of higher education that prepares future leaders, American University is geographically located and academically positioned to attract the brightest young minds to our traditional campus setting to combine creative ideas with scholarly research to find local, national, and global-minded AU’s neighbors solutions. issues, while high school students explore science in take advantage AU’s Statement of Common Purpose under- the labs and retired persons take classes. of the many lines that “the central commitment of American This is what American University is today— on-campus University is the development of thoughtful, academically strong, globally involved, nationally educational responsible human beings in the context of a focused, and locally engaged. American University’s activities challenging yet supportive academic community.” 2011 Campus Plan is designed to carry that essence open to the community. Since its first graduating class in 1916, American into the future by carefully balancing academic University has demonstrated a unique commitment objectives with community needs. to both academic excellence and public service. As AU has become increasingly selective and Serving D.C. and Environs academically more rigorous, it has kept its com- AU remains true to its Methodist roots as a mitment to student volunteerism and local public private university with a public responsibility and service. While attracting top students and scholars a strong commitment to student volunteerism and to apply knowledge nationally and internationally, service. A few examples include: AU also is strongly involved close to home with • By the time they are seniors, 74 percent of hands-on work to help city schools, assist local AU undergraduates will have participated in populations with vital services, involve neighbors community service or volunteer work. in educational and recreational events on campus, • Last year, 2,224 students contributed and pump needed dollars into the local economy. 104,815 hours of service to the D.C. Having climbed to #79 among national univer- community. sities in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings (a rise • The Washington College of Law’s clinical of some 40 places during the past 15 years), AU programs are ranked consistently among the has become a prestigious global university while top three in the nation for providing free keeping its neighborhood feel. It is where U.S. legal services to poor and unrepresented area presidents make major speeches, while residents en- residents. Staffed pro bono by AU law stu- joy the park-like setting in which they jog or walk dents and faculty, these clinics serve a variety their dogs; where international dignitaries discuss of clients, including victims of domestic their nation’s challenges, while local children learn violence, indigent women, and victims of to swim in the pool and learn about art in the mu- human rights abuse. About 230 law students seum; where U.S. political leaders address national per year participate in these clinics. Students doing volunteer work in the city as part of the Freshman Service Experience, which just marked its 20th anniversary.

• Before fall classes begin, new freshman • AU students were recognized as the students report to campus to perform most politically active in the nation by community service, contributing more than The Princeton Review in 2010. 12,000 hours at some 50 sites throughout Washington, including public and charter Who Are the AU Students? schools, geriatric centers, and community AU students come from all 50 states, the development organizations. Nearly 8,000 District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and more than students have participated in the program 140 countries. Twenty-three different religions are since 1990. represented. AU is 62 percent female and 38 percent • School of Education, Teaching and Health male. A few other facts: students and faculty play a vital role by • The average GPA of an incoming student mentoring, tutoring, and helping with (2010) is 3.87 and the average SAT score is faculty development and curriculum 1299. planning in the elementary, middle, and • Out of every 10 students who apply as high schools through formal partnerships prospective freshmen, only four are admitted. with D.C. schools, valued at some $17 • The entering class of law school students million since 2002. (2010) had a median GPA of 3.40 and an • Through D.C. Reads, more than 140 average LSAT score of 163. undergraduates work annually with public • In 2008, more than 60 AU undergraduate school students to help improve the literacy and graduate students won recognition as rates of local youth. national scholarship recipients and finalists. • AU ranks second in the nation among • AU students have won numerous Boren and medium-sized schools in the number of Truman Scholarships, Fulbright Grants, Peace Corps volunteers, and 51 alumni and Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowships, currently serve as Peace Corps members. combining their academic interests with a desire to engage in public service. • AU was named a Truman Foundation Honor 104,815 Institution (2006) for consecutive years the number of hours of service AU students contributed to the D.C. community last year (nine) of success in nominating candidates for this prestigious public service scholarship.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 3 AU always has been a place that celebrates the diversity of its campus community. The university’s first 28 students included five women—a notable figure at a time before women could vote; the Washington College of Law was founded in 1896 by two women to provide opportunities for females to study law; and an African-American student won a fellowship in 1915 to pursue a doctorate. The 2011 Campus Plan demonstrates a desire to further enhance campus community by build- ing on AU’s academic history and public service mission.

Managing Student Enrollment East Campus: New Mexico Avenue facing east The current student population is 10,298— including 6,318 undergraduates; 3,230 graduate students; and 750 others. This is below the 10,600 cap suggested by the 2001 Campus Plan. The cur- Planning for the Future rent law school enrollment is 1,770. American University’s 2011 Campus Plan The goal for the coming decade is to maintain reflects a desire to strengthen AU’s impressive the student quality with minimal (1.3 percent) growth in academic prestige, be an asset to growth in the undergraduate population and Washington, D.C., and be an education, cultural, moderate growth in programs that can best handle and aesthetic amenity to the surrounding commu- it (graduate and law) because they have older (and nity. To support academic objectives, AU plans to: non-resident) students with different matriculation • enhance undergraduate housing to remain and class usage patterns. competitive in higher education The projected total enrollment for all student • provide more recreation, dining, and activ- populations (including law) during the coming ity space to give students an on-campus decade would be 13,600—which would include focus 6,400 undergraduates; 4,400 graduate students; • create a new law school campus close to 2,000 law students; and 800 others. public transportation and a retail corridor Many of these students will remain in the D.C. • build additional offices to attract and keep area after graduating, as some 40 percent of current top faculty AU alumni now live in this region. • improve science and research facilities to sharpen our scholarly edge American University’s campus plan • add athletics facilities for fitness and is academically exciting, financially campus wellness • establish an admissions welcome center for feasible, developmentally reasonable, new students and their parents appropriately sited, and responsive to • create an alumni center to serve our community concerns. graduates

4 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN East Campus: Nebraska Avenue elevation

Key plan projects to fulfill these objectives housing project (Centennial) was finished include: in 1986. • Undergraduate housing—New housing • New law school—To be built on the is needed to provide space for students eight-acre Tenley campus in the current already here, including up to 300 students building footprint, the new law school will now forced to live in triples; for 200 be walking distance to Metro and along a who live in nearby apartments under a major commercial corridor and transporta- university lease; and for 497 now housed tion route into downtown D.C. It could be on the Tenley campus, which will be the a catalyst for appropriate business activity future home of the law school. This will be along the Tenley corridor. accomplished by developing the eight-acre asphalt Nebraska Avenue parking lot as a residence community (for 770), building an addition to Nebraska Hall (for 120), and $400 million potential economic benefit to the local area constructing new residence halls on South through jobs and contract opportunities Campus at the Child Development Center associated with the new construction and site (for 200) and behind the President’s renovation projects Office Building (for 200). The last major

Washington College of Law: Tenley campus site plan

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 5 The plan is a transformational opportunity for American University—to alleviate an under- graduate housing crunch; have a better on-campus experience for students; provide opportunities for a stronger education presence in the vibrant Tenley commercial corridor; maintain a green design ethic, both tasteful and appropriate; and enhance AU’s value to the community. It also could provide close to $400 million in new construction and renovation projects on exist- ing campus property, bringing economic benefits to the local area through jobs and contract oppor- tunities. This would complement the already large impact American University has on the District economy, injecting some $415 million each year.

Involving the Community Decennial campus planning provides a forum for universities to link academic plans with facili- • removed several proposed buildings from ties needs, while allowing neighbors to express the plan concerns and suggest new ideas. We have listened • reduced the housing inventory target from and responded to a number of community concerns. 4,900 to 4,300 beds Since July 2009, we have held public discus- • distributed new housing to four different sions with community members regarding our sites across campus academic objectives, planning ideals, and potential • added a site (behind the President’s Office sites. All materials were posted and documents Building) for additional housing made available, as we sought to balance university • made several changes to the East Campus objectives and community concerns. In January (Nebraska Avenue parking lot) plan, 2011, we provided a formatted draft plan—the which included reorienting buildings to only local university to do so—to summarize 18 mitigate views, reducing the number of months of meetings and to further prompt substan- beds proposed (from 1,000 to 770), adding A green roof tive dialogue in advance of our filing. In response to a building to buffer potential impacts adorns the top community comment, we have: on adjacent properties, and retaining the of the Media • reduced the total proposed gross floor area location of the vehicular entrance from New Production from 1,200,000 to 892,000 square feet Mexico Avenue into the site Center. • engaged Tenleytown community members and their architect in discussions regarding the law school’s move to the Tenley campus, which helped define the community desire to keep the facility largely within the foot- print of the existing structures, maintain existing site access points and curb cuts, and preserve the historic character of both Capital Hall and Dunblane

Enhancing Sustainability and Mitigating Impact The best way to appreciate AU’s green values and design aesthetic is to take a walk across campus —a registered arboretum with 2,500 trees of 130 different species and varieties complemented by ornamental gardens, flower beds, and pocket parks

6 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN The School of International Service Building, left, is seeking LEED Gold certification.

2,500 the number of trees on AU’s campus, a registered arboretum for the enjoyment of our students and community. We value that distinctiveness, appreciate its role in AU’s identity, and plan to maintain it. AU aims for carbon neutrality by 2020 and mandates LEED Silver standards (or better) for each new building. All future AU development will be done in ways that advance sustainability and minimize any negative impact on our neigh- borhood. Our current campus shows an appropri- • committed to green building design ate scaling and design aesthetic, which we will • modified our student conduct code to maintain. encompass off-campus issues and have Being part of a community means working continued to foster an understanding among to fulfill our academic objectives while acting as a students of neighborhood sensitivities responsible neighbor by designing appropriate and • required that all on-campus residents honor sustainable buildings; mitigating our daily impact a housing contract to enforce appropriate through transportation management; and creating behavior, and residence halls be managed a behavioral expectation for students who will professionally by on-site staff become educated and responsible citizens. We take American University’s Campus Plan is academ- these commitments seriously and have adapted our ically exciting, financially feasible, developmentally practices in the following ways: reasonable, appropriately sited, and responsive to • enhanced and promoted use of public community concerns. Our future undergraduate transportation and car pooling to reduce student growth is small and graduate and law traffic congestion and pollution; the AU student growth modest, our impact is manageable, shuttle carries almost 2 million riders each and our commitment is solid—to be a vital part of year, helping to manage auto and pedestrian the nation’s capital and Northwest Washington in traffic ways that enhance the life of the campus, city, and • vowed to be carbon neutral by 2020 by community. reducing consumption, buying green, and We have delivered on that commitment for producing renewable energy 118 years, and we will continue to do so.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 7 8 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN SECTION 2 INTRODUCTION

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 9 SECTION 2 INTRODUCTION

This document and the • building additional athletics facilities, an admissions/welcome center, and an alumni attached appendix of exhibits center make up the American These goals are achieved through the develop- ment of the projects proposed in the 2011 Plan. University Campus Plan This plan includes three Further Processing (the “2011 Plan” or the applications that specifically target the goals of improving the student housing options and dining/ “Campus Plan”) for the recreation facilities.1 The three Further Processing period from 2011–2020. applications include: Nebraska Hall Addition will add 120 beds The 2011 Plan is the product of an extensive in apartment-style units similar to the existing effort by representatives of American University, building. The addition’s bulk, height, and appear- the various communities surrounding the Main and ance will match the existing building. An existing Tenley campuses of American University, Advisory fence will be extended and increased in height, Neighborhood Commissions (“ANC”) 3D and 3E, and appropriate landscaping will be developed in representatives of the Office of Planning (“OP”) consultation with nearby residents. (Exhibit 19) and the District Department of Transportation Mary Graydon Addition will add 20,000 (“DDOT”), and Councilmember Cheh and her staff. square feet of dining and activity space to the American University began a dialogue with these student center. The addition, to be located at the community stakeholders in mid-2009 regarding south end of the building, will match the exist- the 2011 Plan. American University believes that ing building’s four stories with a complementary the plan that is detailed in this statement and in design. (Exhibit 20) the attached appendix of exhibits is a better one as East Campus includes six buildings and an result of the community dialogue process. associated underground parking and service area, to The Campus Plan’s primary goals are to be built on the site of the current Nebraska Avenue support AU’s Strategic Plan and academic and Parking Lot. The project will accommodate 770 facilities needs by: new beds in contemporary housing units, recre- • improving and offering attractive student ation and activity space for students, instructional housing to encourage more undergraduate spaces, the Admissions Welcome Center, and students to live on campus administrative offices. All delivery, waste removal, • creating on-campus recreation, dining, and service are designed to be underground, along athletics, and activity space to support with parking for 300 cars. Small-scale retail spaces student needs are planned along Nebraska Avenue. These spaces • building a new home for the Washington are primarily to serve university needs but will be College of Law at the Tenley Campus near available for the surrounding community as well. the Metro and a major transportation (Exhibit 21) corridor This statement and the attached appendix dis- • providing additional faculty office, research, cuss in detail how the 2011 Plan and the Further and related spaces Processing applications satisfy the requirements of • improving science facilities and instruc- § 210 of the Zoning Regulations. tional space

1A Further Processing application for the relocation of the Washington College of Law to the Tenley Campus is expected to be filed within 60–75 days of the filing of this application.

10 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN SECTION 3 THE UNIVERSITY AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 11 SECTION 3 THE UNIVERSITY AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

3.1 HISTORY AND ACADEMIC launched a program to help train federal employ- PROFILE ees in new methods of public administration. President Franklin Roosevelt, who spoke at the 3.1.1 History event launching the program, promised it would American University was incorporated by have the “hearty cooperation” of all branches of his the government of the District of Columbia in administration. The program would evolve into 1891 and chartered by an Act of Congress in today’s School of Public Affairs. 1893. Founded under the auspices of the United During World War II, students shared the Methodist Church, it is an independent coeduca- campus with the Navy, which used it for research tional university with students enrolled in under- and training. It wasn’t the first time that war graduate, master’s, doctoral, and professional degree impacted AU directly. During World War I, the programs. The first building was completed in still largely undeveloped campus was used by the 1898, and the first class graduated in 1916. war department as a military camp, testing, and Practical idealism, a passion for public service, training site. and a global outlook were ideals of American The period after World War II was a time of University when founded by Methodist Bishop growth and innovation. The Washington Semester John Fletcher Hurst, and they remain a strong part Program, founded in 1947, began attracting of AU today. The vision was to create a university students from around the nation (and ultimately, to train public servants for the future, and the the world) to participate in what was then a new land chosen was on the rural fringe of the nation’s concept—semester internships in the nation’s capital—an area already rich with Washington capital. history. Abraham Lincoln visited Fort Gaines In 1949, the Washington College of Law (perched high on ground now held by Ward merged with AU, adding its rich history (it was Circle and the Katzen Arts Center) to inspire the founded for women in 1896) to the pioneering Union troops defending the nation’s capital, and spirit of the university. By that same year, although presidential footsteps have echoed through AU’s the nation’s capital was still a segregated town, history. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt laid the AU community included over 400 African the cornerstone of a building, named for Hurst’s American students. friend, President William McKinley, and when AU opened in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson gave Post-war Expansion the dedication. The 1950s brought further expansion; by 1955, the business program had grown so large it Growing with Washington became a separate school, now known as the Kogod If AU’s Washington ties were evident from the School of Business. In 1957, President Dwight start, so was its groundbreaking spirit. The first 28 D. Eisenhower broke ground for the School of students included five women, a notable number International Service and urged the new school to at a time before women could vote, and an African remember that “the waging of peace demands the American student won a fellowship in 1915 to best we have.” And in 1963, an AU commence- pursue a doctorate. ment was the occasion that President John F. Undergraduates were first admitted in 1925, Kennedy used for his historic foreign policy speech by which time graduate students had shifted to that called on the Soviet Union to work with the a downtown campus on F Street, near the White United States on a nuclear test ban treaty. House. It was there in the heart of downtown Through the years, new centers, institutes, and that in 1934, at the start of the New Deal, AU programs were born to enable faculty and students

12 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN to examine pertinent issues, and in 1984, the 1955, it includes six departments and has School of Communication was established, reflect- been ranked among the country’s top busi- ing the growth of the journalism program from the ness schools—#28 in Business Week’s “Best first courses in the 1920s. Undergraduate Business Schools” (2009), #36 by the Wall Street Journal (2007), and A New Century #54 by the Economist (2009). Academic programs have continuously gained • School of Communication—Established high national rankings, and the increasing quality in 1984, it is a laboratory for professional of AU’s students is reflected in the high number of education, communication research, and merit awards and prestigious national scholarships innovative production in journalism, film and fellowships, such as Fulbright awards and and media arts, and public communication; Presidential Management Fellowships. its alumni are prominent in news, film, AU’s reputation in the creative arts was under- and communication in Washington and scored in 2003 with the opening of the 296-seat nationwide. Harold and Sylvia Greenberg Theatre and in 2005 • School of International Service— with the Katzen Arts Center. With 130,000 square Founded in 1957, it is the largest school feet of space, the Katzen includes a 30,000-square- of international affairs in the country, with foot art museum with three floors of exhibition programs in international communication, space, the Washington area’s largest university international development, international facility for exhibiting art. economic relations, U.S. foreign policy, In 2007, Neil Kerwin, SPA/BA ’71, became international peace and conflict resolution, the first alumnus to be president of AU. A noted global environmental politics, international scholar of public policy and the regulatory process, politics, and comparative and regional he has been part of the life of AU for 40 years, studies. The SIS international relations track as student, professor, dean, and provost, and is ranked #8 among master’s programs and now guiding the university through the process was #17 on Foreign Policy magazine’s list of of implementing its Strategic Plan, American top undergraduate programs. University and the Next Decade: Leadership for a • School of Public Affairs—Created as a Changing World, which expresses a conviction that department in 1934 and established as a AU’s academic strengths are grounded in its core school in 1957, it has three departments— values of social responsibility and a commitment to government, public administration, and cultural and intellectual diversity. justice, law and society. The school has It’s a vision for the twenty-first century that been ranked by U.S. News and World Report is grounded in ideals that go back to Bishop John (2009) as #14 nationally; among public Fletcher Hurst and the dream of a university that management/public administration pro- makes a difference in the lives of its students, its grams as #6; and among public finance and community, and the world. budgeting programs as #18. It has earned acclaim for areas such as campaign manage- 3.1.2 Academic Profile ment, women and politics, and lobbying. American University offers a range of un- • Washington College of Law—Established dergraduate and graduate programs—including in 1896 as the first law school founded by 57 bachelor’s, 52 master’s, 9 doctoral, and 3 law women, it became part of AU in 1949. degrees, as well as more than 60 certificate pro- It provides unparalleled opportunities for grams (mostly graduate level)—through its six real-world experience through its highly major schools and colleges: acclaimed programs in clinical law, inter- • College of Arts and Sciences—Founded national law, human rights, intellectual in 1925, it is AU’s largest school or college property, business, international commercial and includes 16 departments and the arbitration, health, and the environment. School of Education, Teaching and Health, Its multicultural environment is a par- which has numerous teaching collabora- ticular strength, including a #1 ranking tions with D.C. schools. by Hispanic Business (2010) as the top law • Kogod School of Business—Founded in school for Hispanic students.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 13 American University is ranked by U.S. News an appreciation of diverse cultures and viewpoints. and World Report (2010) as #79 in the list of “Best Its commitment to social justice, its ability to respond National Universities, ” and the National Survey to the needs of a changing world while retaining its of Student Engagement (NSSE) ranked AU core values, and its capacity to turn to educational above its peer institutions for “Level of Academic advantage the resources of the nation’s capital are Challenge,” “Student/Faculty Interaction,” and hallmarks of this institution. “Enriching Educational Experiences.” The faculty includes renowned experts and 3.2.2 Current Strategic Plan distinguished scholars of national and international In 2009, the Board of Trustees adopted a reputation. Some 95 percent of our full-time strategic plan to guide AU’s vision and planning faculty members hold the highest degree in their over the next decade. Ten strategic initiatives field. In addition to more than 600 (646) full-time (transformational goals) align our efforts to achieve faculty members, adjunct faculty are drawn from academic greatness: the surrounding Washington, D.C., professional • epitomize the scholar-teacher ideal community and include policy makers, diplomats, • provide an unsurpassed education and government officials, journalists, artists, writers, experience scientists, and business leaders. • demonstrate distinction in graduate, AU has a number of certificate and other aca- professional, and legal studies demic programs, such as the Washington Semester • engage the great ideas and issues of our Program—an integral part of American University time since 1947. Each year several hundred students • reflect and value diversity from across the country (and the world) come to • bring the world to AU and AU to the world AU for credit classes in subject areas such as U.S. • act on our values through social responsibil- foreign policy, journalism, peace and conflict reso- ity and service lution, and American politics while participating • engage alumni in the life of the university in internships in and around the nation’s capital. • encourage innovation and high performance • win recognition and distinction 3.2 MISSION AND STRATEGIC PLAN To achieve our transformational goals and ensure their effectiveness, we must pursue six 3.2.1 Campus Mission enabling goals: American University’s efforts to become a • diversify our revenue sources more prominent and higher quality university have • employ technology to empower excellence stemmed from strategic planning and prudent bud- • enhance the university library and research geting to align resources with academic priorities. infrastructure Current institutional planning and strategic direc- • forge partnerships by leveraging our capital tion can be traced to the Statement of Common location Purpose, approved in 1994, which stated: • continue as a model for civil discourse The place of American University among major • align our facilities planning with strategic universities with first rate faculties and academic goals programs grounded in the arts and sciences is secured Key to fulfilling AU’s strategic objectives and by its enduring commitment to uncompromising helping the transformational goals become real is quality in educating its students. But its distinctive item #6 of the enabling goals—“align our facilities feature—unique in higher education—is its capacity planning with strategic goals.” as a national and international university to turn ideas into action and action into service by emphasiz- 3.2.3 Finances ing the arts and sciences and then connecting them to As virtually every segment of society (includ- the issues of contemporary public affairs writ large, ing higher education) was affected by the chal- notably in the areas of government, communication, lenging global economic environment, American business, law, and international service…. University has continued to thrive as a result of …The university actively encourages a com- a cautious approach to its finances and prudent mitment to public service, inclusive participation in investment strategies. Along with a current budget university governance, equity and equal access, and of some $450 million in annual revenue and

14 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN expenditures, the endowment has grown to close few statistics: to $400 million; during calendar year 2009, AU’s • During the 2009–10 academic year, 2,224 endowment return was 33 percent, which ranked students volunteered 104,815 hours at first in an independent report of more than 150 more than 170 sites across Washington; colleges and universities. had they been paid, they would have earned As a result, Standard & Poor’s (2009) upgraded $2,185,464. AU’s long-term and underlying bond ratings from • The Princeton Review (2009) ranked AU A to A+, a distinction matched by only one other #1 for the most politically active students in private higher education institution. Moody’s also the nation for the second time in five years. reaffirmed AU’s A2 credit rating (positive outlook). • The Institute for International Education (Open Doors 2010) ranked AU #5 among 3.3 STUDENTS top doctoral institutions for undergraduate students studying abroad, and almost 60 3.3.1 Student Profile percent will do so. American University students come from all • The Peace Corps (2010) ranked AU #2 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico nationally for undergraduates and #5 for and the territories, and more than 140 nations. The graduate students going into Peace Corps current enrollment is 10,298 students—includ- service after graduation. ing 6,318 undergraduate, 3,230 graduate, 750 • After graduating, many AU students other, and 1,770 law students. AU is 62 percent remain in the region as active alumni. Some female and 38 percent male. Twenty-three different 40 percent of AU graduates live in the religious faiths are represented. District of Columbia or the metropolitan As an increasingly selective institution of Washington area. higher academic caliber, AU has increased its standards for admitted students in recent years, 3.3.2 Athletics and students who enroll at AU tend to stay. Nearly In synch with its moderate institutional size, 17,000 students applied for admittance into AU has an athletics program that also is “right the Class of 2014, representing the largest (by sized” in scope with a quality focus in intent. AU 13 percent) and strongest applicant pool in the sponsors nine women’s and seven men’s teams in university’s history. The admit rate (those granted NCAA Division I intercollegiate competition with admission) for the Class of 2014 was 43 percent, conference affiliation in the Patriot League—a a decrease of 10 percentage points over the past collection of like-minded academically focused three years, which continues the trend of increased universities (Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, Holy selectivity and stronger academic credentials. This Cross, Colgate, U.S. Military Academy, and U.S. group had a GPA/SAT profile of 3.87/1299 or an Naval Academy). The teams are the Eagles, and the 11 point increase over the previous year. average GPA was 3.38 (spring semester 2010) for Along with the increase in student applicant student-athletes. numbers and quality, AU has improved its reten- tion of enrolled students; entering fall semester 3.4 OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES 2010, almost 91 percent of freshmen returned AND SERVICE for their sophomore year, and some 85 percent of Despite its location in an affluent part of sophomores returned for their junior year. Despite Washington, D.C., AU recognizes the District’s these trend lines of becoming a more prestigious challenges in housing, health, education, and and popular university, AU seeks to “hold the social services. The recent economic downturn has line” in the number of new freshmen admitted by placed additional strain on nonprofit sector hu- targeting 1,500 new freshmen enrollees each year. man resources making collaboration with higher AU students can be described as having practi- education institutions even more critical. With a cal idealism, a global outlook, and a passion for strong tradition of service, American University has public service. Service has always been part of the continued its extensive outreach to and services for educational mission with a particular focus on the the D.C. community (see Exhibit 2), encompassing Washington, D.C., community. Indications of the student volunteer efforts, education outreach, and “typical” AU student might be suggested by a service learning, among others.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 15 AU’s School of Education, Teaching and Health tutoring children in need; helping middle (SETH) oversees a large number of formal partner- and high school students learn how to do ships with the D.C. schools (see Exhibit 2). Since library research; hosting Wilson High 2002, SETH has provided approximately $17 School’s graduation (in Bender Arena) and million to D.C. schools through funding of teacher after-school labs for Advanced Placement professional development and new teacher training chemistry classes; offering parking for programs. This ranges from classroom assistance Janney Elementary School teachers while and student teaching, to improving the teach- their school is renovated; and helping to ing of specific subject areas, to assisting teachers landscape Horace Mann Elementary School. with professional certification and master’s degree • Osher Lifelong Learning Institute education. (OLLI)—Close to 750 people participate Student volunteer/involvement efforts are in this program for close-by neighbors and largely coordinated through the Center for other Washingtonians who seek learning in Community Engagement & Service (CCES) in the a context of social interaction, new friend- Office of Campus Life. The CCES is AU’s liaison ships, and collegiality. Housed at American to hundreds of community partners ranging from University, supported by a grant from the small nonprofits to large public schools working Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and to address the city’s needs. Community partners often utilizing AU faculty and academic value the outcomes achieved through collaborations experts, OLLI makes the joy of learning with AU, such as indoor and outdoor beautifica- accessible to all through a fall and spring tion projects that include clean-ups, painting, semester that each run from 8 to 10 weeks. and gardening; increased motivation, academic • Arts in D.C.—With the opening of the achievement, and college aspirations among youth; 296-seat Harold and Sylvia Greenberg literacy, citizenship, and employment prepara- Theatre in 2003 and the Katzen Arts tion for adults; and food delivery and services for Center in 2005, AU’s commitment to the seniors, ill individuals, and homeless people. arts is strong and growing. The museum’s Volunteer activities, cocurricular program- three floors of exhibit space make Katzen ming, service-learning, community-based research, the area’s largest university facility for ex- and engaged scholarship by AU faculty are gate- hibiting art. Public events include art- ways for AU’s involvement and collaboration with ists’ receptions, talks by curators, multi- community partners. Other campus programs or media presentations, and a chance to meet units serve other local populations and augment the artists and other like-minded patrons. their lives as DC citizens. A small sampling would Gallery talks enable artists to discuss their include: work, and Kids at Katzen offers children a • Freshman Service Experience—A tradi- chance to artistically engage. The museum tion begun in 1990, more than half of the programming often reflects AU’s global incoming freshman class each year reports commitment to human rights, social jus- to campus early for a two-day program tice, and political engagement and under- to orient students to community service lines the active and responsible role AU and Washington, D.C. Students volunteer plays in contemporary art and culture. at some 40 different nonprofit work sites • Washington College of Law Service throughout the city during the day and dur- Initiatives—Each year, approximately 230 ing evenings discuss how community work law students participate in one of eight relates to their life at AU. clinics or several other programs designed • Additional Help for D.C. Schools— to serve needy clients from D.C. The clinics Interactions with D.C. students, teach- range from helping low-income women ers, and administrators underline AU’s with civil issues, to assisting individuals fundamental commitment to the District’s seeking political asylum, to assisting area schools in ways beyond teacher education/ taxpayers with tax problems. In addition, professional development—such as con- students represent low-income tenants ducting D.C. Reads, which involved 244 facing eviction in Landlord-Tenant Court. AU students volunteering 62,464 hours Students not participating in school-spon-

16 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN sored programs but participating in other 3.6 SUSTAINABILITY pro bono activities pledge at least 75 hours of AU’s long-standing commitment to preserve their time before graduation. our environment was reinforced by a Strategic Plan goal. A Climate Action Plan (adopted in 3.5 ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS May 2010) solidifies this commitment and targets As the second largest employer in Washington, carbon neutrality by 2020—an ambitious goal that D.C. (aside from the federal government), higher AU embraces. The university will employ four education is a strong economic generator for the strategies to achieve neutrality—reduce consump- city and region, and a snapshot of AU’s impact tion, produce renewable energy, buy green power, would indicate that in FY 2009–10, AU injected and buy or develop offsets for unavoidable emis- roughly $415 million into the District economy. sions. Additionally, AU has: This consists of direct institutional spending of • cut carbon emissions in half by purchasing more than $220 million, and that money was spent renewable energy credits for 100 percent of and re-spent many times over. (AU’s true economic its electricity, making AU the sixth largest impact—the total change in the economy created buyer of renewable energy credits in higher by the university—is its direct spending plus education the effects of re-spending. Based on an economic • adopted a Green Building Policy that man- multiplier of 1.88, AU’s total economic impact for dates new construction, major renovations, the academic year comes to $415 million). and operations and maintenance conform to Salaries, wages, and fringe benefits totaled LEED Silver standards or better $80.5 million; purchases of goods and services • instituted a Sustainable Purchasing Policy totaled approximately $39 million; and the faculty, that mandates the creation of sustain- staff, students, and visitors are a catalyst for ad- able purchasing guidelines for a range of ditional economic support of local businesses. AU products, including emissions-reducing brings close to 12,000 out-of-town guests to D.C. products, such as those rated to Energy Star each year supporting local hotels, restaurants, and standards tourist attractions. The income tax withholding • adopted a Zero Waste Policy, establishing alone from AU’s full- and part-time employees waste reduction and diversion benchmarks, who reside in the District was some $2.7 million with a long-term goal of achieving zero in 2009–10. Support of local businesses creates waste jobs and contract opportunities for area residents; • completed a new School of International proceeds from a recent $99 million bond issue, for Service building, which is a LEED Gold example, were used to finance campus improve- candidate ments, which added to other ongoing construction • installed four green roofs with two more projects and created employment opportunities planned in 2011 for D.C. residents. AU is committed to providing • installed photovoltaic solar panels on one economic opportunities for women and minorities building with six more planned in 2011 through hiring and contracting; since 1992, AU • continued its commitment to reduce vehicle has paid $45 million to LSDBE-certified enter- trips to campus by providing bus service, prises for projects related to bond issues and other car share, and bike share programs university services.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 17 18 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN SECTION 4 CAMPUS PLAN OVERVIEW

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 19 SECTION 4 CAMPUS PLAN OVERVIEW

4.1 CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT improvements were done by renovating existing HISTORY buildings, such as the Kogod School of Business AU’s Main Campus is located at the intersec- expansion into an adjacent building. In 2010, 116 tion of Massachusetts and Nebraska avenues in beds were added to the student housing inventory upper Northwest Washington, D.C.—the main by renovating two existing buildings. In the past site since the founding in 1893. Noted landscape 10 years, AU removed over 300 surface parking architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Van Brunt spaces, in an effort to use underground parking and & Howe prepared plans for future campus develop- preserve green space. ment, and the Van Brunt & Howe plan ultimately selected proposed an L-shaped quadrangle configu- 4.2 CAMPUS PLAN GOALS ration parallel to Nebraska Avenue, with buildings The Campus Plan’s primary goals are to framing the quadrangle on all sides. support AU’s Strategic Plan and academic and Today’s campus (Exhibit 10.2) retains some of facilities needs by: the original framework of that plan, including the • improving and offering attractive student Friedheim Quadrangle, Hurst Hall, and McKinley housing to encourage more undergraduate Building. students to live on campus The campus developed slowly in the early • creating on-campus recreation, dining, years. During 1917–18 and again in 1942–45, AU athletics, and activity space to support made its campus available to the federal govern- student needs ment for the national war effort. From the mid- • building a new home for the Washington 1950s to the late 1960s, the campus grew rapidly College of Law at the Tenley Campus near to support dramatic rises in enrollment as the baby the Metro and a major transportation boom generation reached college age. AU owned corridor and operated a downtown campus for approxi- • providing additional faculty office, research, mately 20 years, ending in the early 1960s, and in and related spaces 1985, acquired the Tenley Campus and adapted it • improving science facilities and instruc- to meet its needs. tional space In the past four decades, AU submitted and • building additional athletics facilities, an had approved three campus plans. The 1974 admissions/welcome center, and an alumni Campus Plan (BZA Order 11646) was approved center in September 1974; the 1989 Campus Plan (BZA Order 14640) was approved in February 1990; 4.3 CAMPUS PLAN PROCESS and the 2001 Campus Plan (Zoning Commission Orders 949 A-C) was approved in August 2001. 4.3.1 Process Overview The 2001 plan proposed a maximum of 400,000 The process of drafting a new plan has involved square feet of additional gross floor area, of which a number of steps, including: only 94,700 has actually been built. Moderate • approval of the Strategic Plan by the Board density of buildings and abundant green spaces of Trustees in 2009 characterize the Main and Tenley campuses today. • review of the current (2001) Campus Plan The Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of the combined priorities and accomplishments campuses is .51, which is only 29 percent of the 1.8 • identification of current facility needs permitted by the zoning regulations. • assessment of potential building sites and Development since the 2001 Campus Plan matching those sites with current priorities approval has focused on improving the academic • ongoing discussion with neighbors and facilities—with completing the Katzen Arts Center other stakeholders of the priorities, sites, and School of International Service as the flag- mitigation strategies, and concerns ship achievements. Additional academic facility

20 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN 4.3.2 Community Dialogue lectures, events, and other forms of intellectual life AU has made a concerted effort to actively for neighbors, and is the only designated arbore- involve our neighbors and to seek their input for tum among universities in D.C. “I hope this is a the development of the 2011 Campus Plan. university that you can be proud to be nearby and take full advantage of,” he said. Campus Plan Task Force Representatives from across the university As an initial step to foster community dia- participated in task force meetings, including logue, the university formed a Campus Plan Task the Office of Campus Life, Housing and Dining, Force comprising more than three dozen neighbors Public Safety, Office of the Architect, Community who represented communities adjacent to AU’s Relations and Local Government Affairs, and the main and Tenley campuses. This group—expanded Office of the General Counsel. from previous campus plans—included representa- Task force members were notified by e-mail in tives from AU Park, Ft. Gaines, Spring Valley, the advance of each meeting and afterwards with meet- Tenleytown area, Wesley Heights, and Westover ing notes and follow-up materials. Place. Commissioners from both ANC3D and ANC3E participated, along with representatives Access to Campus Plan Materials from the Office of Planning and the office of Ward All materials related to the 2011 Campus Plan 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh. Several neighbor- and task force meetings were made available to ing condominium buildings and developments task force members and the general public in the were represented by board members, as were following ways: neighborhood associations, including Neighbors • A dedicated Campus Plan Web page, for a Livable Community. A number of task force www.american.edu/finance/fas/ members are also members of AU’s Neighborhood campus-plan.cfm, was created on AU’s Liaison Committee. Web site, www.american.edu. The first task force meeting was convened in • All meeting notices, presentations, meeting July 2009 and included a review of the D.C. zon- notes, and related transportation studies and ing process, a facilities overview, a summary of the reports were posted on the Web page. 2001 Campus Plan, and transportation issues. In • The previous 2001 Campus Plan was also continuing meetings, the Campus Plan Task Force posted. reviewed facilities needs, site analyses, facilities • Campus Plan updates appeared in AU in priorities, population and housing numbers, results the Neighborhood, the university’s monthly of transportation studies, and plans for the East electronic newsletter that provides news and Campus, main campus (including Nebraska Hall), campus events for neighbors. and Tenley campus. • News about the Campus Plan was included Agendas and presentations were provided in AU-placed ads of campus news and for task force meetings, which were led by David events that appear monthly in the Northwest Taylor, chief of staff for AU president Neil Kerwin, Current newspapers. and Jorge Abud, assistant vice president for • Printed materials were also developed for facilities, development and real estate. University distribution to neighbors. architect Jerry Gager attended regularly, along Between July 2009 and January 2011, the with representatives of architecture firms and task force met 15 times (on a monthly schedule as transportation consultants for the university. The much as possible) to review, discuss, and garner meetings, held in Mary Graydon Center, typically input regarding the university’s priorities for new began at 7:00 p.m. and ended between 9:00 and facilities, proposed sites, transportation studies, and 9:30 p.m. Smaller conversations usually followed. population data related to the university’s Campus President Kerwin addressed the task force on Plan intentions and priorities for new residence October 20, 2009. He said the university “has halls, including a new East Campus, and relocation historically built its facilities with its surrounding of the Washington College of Law to AU’s Tenley communities as critical to anything we do.” He campus. noted that the Katzen Arts Center, constructed Attendance at these meetings was consistently after the last campus plan, has been a major asset strong with 30 to 40 people (often more) partici- for the community. In addition, he said, AU offers pating at each meeting. At some point, it was felt

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 21 that a third party would be helpful to the dialogue. Changes to the 2011 Campus Plan Resulting In September 2010, after consultation with the from the Community Dialogue Office of Planning, Don Edwards of Sustainability The meetings and ongoing dialogue have and Justice, joined the task force meetings as a resulted in significant changes to AU’s initial facilitator to assist with the discussions. concepts regarding building locations, where to house students, how many students to house, and Making the Draft Plan Available to the whether retail is desirable. The 2011 Plan reflects Community the university’s best effort to respond construc- AU made a draft of its proposed Campus Plan tively to the issues raised. Large scale/conceptual available to the public on January 24, 2011. AU is changes have included: the only university in the city to make a draft avail- • reduced total proposed gross floor area from able to the public in advance of its filing with the 1,200,000 to 892,000 square feet (includ- DC Zoning Commission. Copies of the draft plan ing Tenley Campus) were also placed in the Tenley public library and • removed several buildings from the plan in AU’s Bender Library, one of the few university (including two on the South Campus, two libraries in the city open to the public. The draft on the Clark site, Letts-Anderson Pavilion, and accompanying materials and exhibits were also and East Quad) available on the AU Web site. • included an additional student housing development site on the existing surface Other Meetings parking lot located behind the President’s University officials made presentations before Office Building both ANC3D and ANC3E on at least two occasions • reduced proposed development and worked before the Campus Plan was filed with the Zoning to utilize the footprint of most Tenley Commission and met with a number of ANC com- Campus existing structures for the new law missioners and other individuals at their request. school and maintain and enhance landscape Representatives of AU held a number of buffers along Warren, 42nd, and Yuma “small group” meetings with representatives of streets neighborhoods, including Ft. Gaines, Tenleytown, • made several changes to the East Campus, Westover/Spring Valley, Wesley Heights, and including reducing beds from 1,000 to 770; Embassy Park. Separate meetings also were held reorienting housing/building placement to with ANC commissioners, individuals, and groups, mitigate views; adding academic/adminis- at their request. AU officials also hosted a campus trative building to separate student housing tour (April 2010) to review potential building sites from Westover Place residences; and mov- and toured the Westover Place townhouse develop- ing the New Mexico Avenue driveway away ment (December 2010) with community associa- from the Westover perimeter wall to keep tion representatives to see their view of the adjacent at existing location university parking lot and the potential proximity • reduced housing inventory target from from the townhomes to proposed new buildings on 4,900 to 4,300 to reduce number of build- the East Campus. ings needed as part of 2011 Campus Plan The university kept the Office of Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh apprised of the meetings and developments concerning the Campus Plan.

22 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN SECTION 5 POLICIES SHAPING THE FUTURE

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 23 SECTION 5 POLICIES SHAPING THE FUTURE

5.1 STUDENT NEEDS Main Campus to accommodate 1,290 students and Along with AU’s efforts to become an academi- discontinuing the use of 497 beds on the Tenley cally stronger institution with improved selectivity Campus. Because of its age and outdated style, and higher undergraduate retention rates, the Tenley housing receives the lowest satisfaction university has invested in programming and activi- scores from students and the campus is slated for ties to provide on-campus options and increase demolition to prepare for the new home for the student involvement in campus life. In addition Washington College of Law. to increased participation in on-campus activities, This proposal would significantly improve undergraduates have a stronger desire to live on or housing quality and reduce to 60 percent the near the Main Campus. The Strategic Plan goal to proportion of our housing inventory comprised of provide an unsurpassed undergraduate experience traditional rooms. reflects this, and a significant part of that experi- In Campus Plan discussions with the sur- ence must be supported by high-quality facilities rounding neighborhoods over the past 18 months, for student activities and housing. identifying sites for expanded housing prompted community concerns about housing structures on 5.1.1 Housing the campus perimeter and requests to not utilize In the competition for top students, the type those sites. For a combination of reasons, there- and quality of housing can be a distinguishing fore—including reducing the number of buildings factor in whether a student chooses to attend AU or needed as part of the 2011 Campus Plan—AU another institution. With the last major residence proposes a modification in the current housing hall project (Centennial) dating back to 1987 and requirement (dating back to 2001 in Zoning the housing oversubscribed, AU must address its Commission Order 949). housing needs and improve its housing stock. Modifying the percentage may prompt AU provides housing only for undergradu- concerns about the impact of students living in the ate students, and its residence halls are currently surrounding community and requires explanation designed to accommodate 3,533 students. Most of where AU students live. Key facts are presented rooms (85 percent) are traditional-style doubles below and in Exhibit 5. with shared bathroom facilities. However, AU cur- • 62 percent of total AU students live in D.C. rently houses 4,083 undergraduates, which includes • 65 percent of AU undergraduates live in some 300 students assigned to triple rooms (i.e., university-provided housing. three students living in rooms designed for two), • Some 1,176 AU undergraduates (not in and 200 students living under a university lease in university housing) live in the 20016 zip a nearby apartment complex (The Berkshire). The code. need for the tripling and apartment lease “solution” • 80 percent of undergraduates (938) in the is based on the Zoning Commission order from 20016 zip code live in apartments. the 2001 Campus Plan, which requires AU to be • 42 percent of apartment-dwelling under- able to accommodate 85 percent of freshmen and graduates (393) live in the Berkshire; 24 sophomores and two-thirds of undergraduates in percent (221) live in the Avalon; and 34 university-provided housing. percent (324) live in 45 other apartments. A key Campus Plan goal, therefore, is to pro- • 20 percent of the undergraduates (238) in vide a better on-campus experience while upgrad- the 20016 zip code live in 146 individual ing the quality of student housing and updating houses. the inventory by offering more apartment- and • 13 undergraduate group houses have been suite-style units. The 2011 Plan proposes to accom- identified (with four or more students). plish this by building contemporary housing on the

24 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN Assessing where the “undergraduate only” with a culture of academic excellence, sets high houses are by neighborhood suggests: Tenleytown standards and seeks constant improvement. (15); AU Park (12); Wesley Heights (6); Cathedral Proud of its scholarly achievements, AU must Heights (4); Cleveland Park (3); Palisades (3); continually add resources to guide its teaching Friendship Heights (2); and Spring Valley (2). and research and further enrich the classroom Due to the nature of the housing market near experience, advance academic disciplines and the the university, student group houses are expensive professions, inform policy debates, and address and not a popular option. As a result of these the challenging issues of our time. Key to this are demographics and the university’s proactive ap- improvements to the campus infrastructure to sup- proach (see Exhibit 4), student behavior problems port our current and emerging academic offerings are limited to isolated instances at a handful of and strengths. The sciences, for example, are an area addresses, and AU has strengthened even further targeted for enhancements to further augment AU’s its response to community complaints. (Exhibit 5 academic standing in the arts and sciences. provides additional insight on where students live). The Washington College of Law (WCL), the While occasional complaints from community first law school founded by women and one of members do occur, the totality suggests that AU the nation’s best, combines rigorous legal educa- students have lived successfully in the surrounding tion with a passion for legal issues and a genuine community. There is ample supply of rental hous- commitment to values—breaking down barriers, ing close by and students pay approximately $10 interconnectedness, innovation, and creativity. It million a year to local landlords. AU suggests that is known for superior programs in experiential a Zoning Commission modified housing percent- learning, international law (human rights and age (100 percent of freshmen and sophomores and commercial arbitration), law and government, 55 percent of all undergraduates) would enable environmental and intellectual property, and an AU to build sufficient housing to accomplish its entrepreneurial spirit designed to educate future programmatic objectives and reduce the building lawyers to confront unprecedented national and area on the campus. This is discussed in more international change. detail in Section 7.2.3. Yet the success, creativity, and richness of the WCL’s programs have resulted in, 15 years after 5.1.2 Graduate Programs moving to a new facility (at 4801 Massachusetts A key Strategic Plan objective is to “demon- Ave.,) the school outgrowing its current home strate distinction in graduate, professional, and (195,000 square feet) and leasing an additional legal studies”—and to become known as a world- 16,000 square feet in nearby office buildings. class institution for legal and advanced graduate Distance from Metro/major transportation access studies. is another hindrance that can be overcome with As a Carnegie-classified research university, the right (new) location—at the Tenley Campus of AU is committed to creating knowledge, includ- American University—for a LEED Certified Gold ing creative and professional activity in the arts, facility of some 300,000 square feet with under- humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and ground parking for 400 to 500 cars. the professions, and strongly supports research by American University has experienced growth faculty and students. And as a college-centered in its graduate and professional program enroll- research university, AU values scholar-teachers who ment, which has a different student demographic are fully engaged both in research and in under- and matriculation pattern than undergraduate graduate and graduate teaching. Laboratories— programs. Future program growth is anticipated ranging from chemistry to social science to art and must be supported with additional facilities design to business behavior—and academic centers that are appropriately planned to enhance the value researching various subjects—from social media of an AU education and the services we provide to war crimes to global peace to Congress and the to our students, the Washington community, and presidency—produce new knowledge. In selected surrounding neighborhoods. fields and professions, AU rates among the finest universities in the nation, if not the world, and

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 25 5.2 ENROLLMENT AND PERSONNEL 5.3 FLEXIBILITY For the past 20 years, AU has improved the While the academic program is rooted in a quality of its academic programs while keeping classical liberal arts education, new programs, edu- enrollment within a fairly narrow range close to our cation technology, and teaching delivery methods current Campus Plan headcount of 10,298 students continue to evolve. The future of higher education (see Exhibit 6). This does not currently include the will see many changes, and AU is positioning itself law school (which would add approximately 1,770 to be responsive. students to this headcount total). Planning the facilities to support a dynamic Going forward, the 2011 Campus Plan pro- organization in a highly competitive field requires poses modest enrollment growth, while continuing flexibility. While AU has developed a plan that to improve our academic quality measures. As outlines its general intent, the exact nature of shown in Exhibit 6, total enrollment (undergradu- programs to be housed in various facilities cannot ate, graduate, and law) is projected to grow by be precisely predicted for some of the buildings 13 percent from 2010 to 2020, with most of that contemplated. The 2011 Campus Plan provides a growth planned in graduate and law enrollment. structure for planned future construction but does Since the plan calls for moving the law school from not attempt to answer every question about these commercially zoned to residentially zoned property planned facilities. Building sites, sizes, heights, (covered by the Campus Plan), adding the law and general descriptions of contemplated construc- school enrollment would result in a total enroll- tion and change are identified. Taken as a whole, ment of 13,600 students.2 this information creates a picture of what the Employment has increased slowly to its current campus could be like in 2020, depending on the level of 2,318 for Campus Plan properties and 411 program needs and the financial means available. for the law school. As shown on Exhibit 6, employ- ment is projected to grow to a total of 2,900.

2Please note that all references to student and employee numbers proposed in the 2011 Plan are “headcount” numbers, not “Full-Time Equivalent” numbers.

26 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN SECTION 6 EXISTING CAMPUS FEATURES AND PROPOSED PLAN

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 27 SECTION 6 EXISTING CAMPUS FEATURES AND PROPOSED PLAN

6.1 EXISTING CAMPUS BUILDINGS freestanding Dunblane and Congressional halls and A distinguishing characteristic of the univer- the connected Capital, Federal, and Constitution sity is a balance between open space and build- halls. These buildings provide undergraduate ings. Both the Main and Tenley campuses share residential uses (497 beds), classrooms, and office this feature, with the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) space. American University’s Washington Semester of the combined campuses at .51, which is only Program is also located at the Tenley Campus. 29 percent of the 1.8 permitted by the Zoning Exhibit 12.3 presents the Tenley Campus buildings Regulations. and their uses. Significant attention has been paid to landscape The area surrounding the Tenley Campus design throughout the campuses, for both interior includes single-family homes located to the west of spaces as well as at the perimeters. Large open Warren and 44th streets. Institutional uses, such spaces balance with large building complexes, more as St. Ann’s Church and School and the Convent of intimate gardens create gathering spots throughout Ben Secours, are located directly across Yuma Street the campus, and well-planned buffers screen views to the north, with single-family residential uses from neighboring residences but allow views into found as one heads further west along Yuma Street. the campus from the major public streets. Exhibit Residential uses are found along the south side of 10 shows current campus building locations and Nebraska Avenue, across the street from the Tenley site plans. Campus. Wisconsin Avenue and Tenley Circle are located immediately to the east of the Tenley 6.1.1 Main Campus Campus, with an entrance to the Tenleytown Metro The Main Campus includes 43 buildings, to- Station located approximately one block north taling 1.8 million square feet of gross floor area on along Wisconsin Avenue. 76 acres of land. The centrally located Friedheim Quadrangle (Quad) is the primary hub of activity 6.2 PROPOSED CAMPUS with the principal academic buildings arrayed DEVELOPMENT around it, which gives the campus a traditional university atmosphere. Clusters of residential 6.2.1 Main Campus buildings are located at the north and south ends of Future development of the Main Campus will the campus, with apartment-style housing also lo- be consistent with the existing framework of build- cated in Nebraska Hall, just north of Massachusetts ings and open spaces and will maintain the rich Avenue. Non-academic student activity is focused landscaping of the campus. We propose to reduce on Mary Graydon Center, Butler Pavilion, and the vehicle traffic in many areas by relocating the main Sports Center, which extend west of the Quad in campus road to the west and reducing surface the center of campus. Administrative offices are parking. The campus has two large green spaces spread throughout various buildings. Exhibit 12.1 (Woods-Brown Amphitheater and Friedheim presents Main Campus buildings and their uses. Quadrangle) that support both formal and informal gatherings. The relocation of the campus road and 6.1.2 Tenley Campus elimination of a surface parking lot will create a The eight-acre Tenley Campus is bordered third large green space at the south end of the cam- by Wisconsin Avenue, Nebraska Avenue, Warren pus. This new green space will provide balance to Street, 42nd Street, and Yuma Street. The univer- an area bordered by two large building complexes, sity purchased the Tenley Campus in 1986 and in- the Sports Center/Mary Graydon Center to the corporated it into the 1989 Campus Plan. There are north and a 1,700 student residence hall complex five primary buildings on the Tenley Campus—the to the south.

28 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN 6.2.2 Tenley Campus The proposed law school facilities are being The university and the Washington College of designed to provide sufficient space for a total of Law have determined that the existing law school 2,000 law students and 500 law school faculty and facilities located at 4801 Massachusetts Avenue, staff. Approximately 400–500 parking spaces are NW, are not sufficient to meet the future needs of anticipated in a single level of parking that will the students, faculty, and staff of the Washington be accessed from Nebraska Avenue. The loca- College of Law. In addition, the university be- tion of this vehicular entrance/exit will be in the lieves that a new law school facility located at approximate locations of the existing curb cuts on the Tenley Campus will bring more vibrancy and Nebraska Avenue. Along Yuma Street, access to street-level activity to the Tenleytown community. loading and service spaces will be provided from The university believes that the additional people curb cuts that are in approximately the same loca- the Washington College of Law will bring to the tion as the existing ones on Yuma Street. Site plans sidewalks of Tenleytown will help draw new and depicting the footprints of the existing buildings exciting retail opportunities to this neighborhood. and the proposed new buildings are included in Associated with this move will be the transfer Exhibit 18.1.1. of the 497 undergraduate residential beds that The plans for the new law school facilities currently exist on the Tenley Campus to the main continue to evolve and are not as fully refined as campus. The undergraduates who live on the those that have been prepared for the East Campus Tenley Campus consistently rate their residential and the Nebraska Hall Addition. Therefore, the life experience as poor. The relocation of these university has agreed to delay the filing of the students to new beds on the main campus is con- Further Processing application for the relocation sistent with the university’s goal of enhancing the of the WCL facilities to the Tenley Campus for a undergraduate residential experience at American period of 60–75 days from the filing of this applica- University. For all of these reasons, the university tion. However, a site plan depicting the current is proposing the relocation of the Washington vision for the proposed facilities, renderings of the College of Law to the Tenley Campus. buildings, and photo simulations of the massing The university and the design team for the and height of the proposed facilities are included in Washington College of Law have established a Exhibit 18.1.1c. number of goals that will guide the development The university has held meetings with resi- of the Tenley Campus. These goals include: dents of the adjacent community and their archi- • Create highly effective and functional new tect, representatives of Advisory Neighborhood facilities that build upon the college’s rich Commission (ANC) 3E, Historic Preservation heritage and enhance its academic resources Office (HPO) staff members, and OP representa- and diverse programs. tives regarding the proposed development of the • Preserve and strengthen the historic Tenley Campus. The university will continue to character of American University’s Tenley meet and work with these groups as the plans for Campus and Capital Hall. the Tenley Campus are refined and the Further • Develop a meaningful campus aesthetic Processing application is prepared. that maintains accessability to open areas and green space. 6.1.3 Development Sites on Main • Develop 300,000 gross square feet of new Campus and Tenley Campus and renovated facilities, largely within the To support attainment of the university’s footprint of the existing structures on the strategic goals, 10 projects are proposed, totaling Tenley Campus. approximately 892,000 square feet. All but one • Concentrate development density to mini- of these are planned on existing building sites, mize the visual impact on the surrounding parking lots, roads, or other paved areas. The table neighborhoods. on the next page lists the proposed new facilities • Maintain existing site access points and and their uses. curb cuts, to the greatest possible degree. • Leverage access to the Tenleytown Metro station.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 29 Proposed New Facilities and Their Uses

Project Use Exhibit Reference Gross Floor Area (SF)

Nebraska Hall Addition Residential 19 50,000

Mary Graydon Addition Campus Life 20 20,000

East Campus Residential/Academic/ 21 328,000 Administrative/Campus Life

Washington College of Law—Tenley Academic/Administrative 18.1.1 244,000 Campus

Beeghly Addition Academic/Administrative 18.1.2 60,000

South Hall Residential 18.1.3 110,000

North Hall Residential 18.1.4 110,000

Multipurpose Gymnasium Athletic/Campus Life 18.1.5 25,000

Sports Center Annex Replacement Athletic/Campus Life 18.1.6 36,000

Reeves Field Bleachers/Storage Athletic/Campus Life 18.1.7 6,000

Kay Addition Campus Life 18.1.8 5,000

Butler Tunnel Enclosure Campus Life 18.1.9 20,000

Child Development Demolish Existing -2,000

Sports Center Annex Demolish Existing -12,000

Osborn Demolish Existing -7,000

Costume Shop Demolish Existing -1,000

Congressional Demolish Existing -42,000

Federal Demolish Existing -35,000

Constitution Demolish Existing -23,000

Total 892,000

Nebraska Hall Addition will add 120 beds East Campus includes six buildings and an in apartment-style units similar to the existing associated underground parking and service area, to building. The addition’s bulk, height, and appear- be built on the site of the current Nebraska Avenue ance will match the existing building. An existing Parking Lot. fence will be extended and increased in height, The project will accommodate 770 students and appropriate landscaping will be developed in in contemporary housing units, recreation and consultation with nearby residents. (Exhibit 19) activity space for students, instructional spaces, the Mary Graydon Addition will add 20,000 admissions welcome center, the alumni center, and square feet of dining and activity space to the administrative offices. All delivery, waste removal, student center. The addition, to be located at the and service are designed to be underground, along south end of the building, will match the exist- with parking for 300 cars. Small-scale retail spaces ing building’s four stories with a complementary are planned along Nebraska Avenue. These spaces design. (Exhibit 20) are primarily to serve university needs but will be

30 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN East Campus Buildings and Their Uses

Project Use Gross Floor Area Stories Height (Feet)

Building 1 Residential, 1st Floor Retail 80,000 6 62

Building 2 Residential 42,000 5 54

Building 3 Residential 48,000 5 54

Building 4 Residential 56,000 5 54

Building 5 Academic/Administrative, 53,000 4 62 1st Floor Retail

Building 6 Academic/Administrative 49,000 3 34

Parking Garage Car & Bicycle Parking, 0 N/A Delivery, Service available for the surrounding community as well. hind the President’s Office Building. It is planned (Exhibit 21) to be six stories to match nearby residence halls. Washington College of Law—Tenley Multipurpose Gymnasium and Sports Campus will provide new integrated facilities for Center Annex Replacement are additions to the the law school. Capital Hall and Dunblane House athletic facilities to accommodate increased student will be renovated for use by the law school and in- interest in athletic and recreational opportunities. tegrated with the new facilities, which will consist These buildings will connect to the existing Sports of approximately 244,000 square feet. All other Center and are planned to be low in height. buildings on the site will be demolished, except for Reeves Field Bleachers will create additional the historic portions of Dunblane, and the exist- seating for the university’s natural grass competi- ing service (garage) building. The new buildings tion field. Storage and service space for the field will be approximately four stories in height and will be located under the bleachers. This project designed to complement Capital Hall. requires demolition of the Osborn Building and Beeghly Addition is an expansion of the reconfiguration of the main campus roadway. existing chemistry building and will allow consoli- Kay Spiritual Life Center Addition is a dation of all science instruction and research within 10,000-square-foot expansion to the university’s one facility. The 60,000-square-foot addition is interfaith religious center that will be located at the planned to be five stores tall to complement the north end of the existing building. Its expansion existing building. will support the needs of AU’s diverse community. South Hall will provide additional housing Butler Tunnel Enclosure will enclose approxi- for 200 students adjacent to the existing south resi- mately 20,000 square feet of space that currently dence hall complex. It is planned to be six stories contains the main campus roadway as it travels to match nearby residence halls. under the Sports Center Garage. Rerouting of the North Hall will provide additional housing for main campus roadway will allow the enclosure of 200 students on the surface parking lot located be- this area for use as student activity space.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 31 32 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN SECTION 7 COMPLIANCE WITH PROVISIONS OF CAMPUS PLAN REGULATIONS (11 DCMR § 210)

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 33 SECTION 7 COMPLIANCE WITH PROVISIONS OF CAMPUS PLAN REGULATIONS (11 DCMR § 210)

As set forth below, the 2011 Plan satisfies the work, and live, as well as to minimize standards enumerated in Section 210 of the District objectionable impacts on the neighboring of Columbia Zoning Regulations: community • work with students to create a respectful 7.1 COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY and peaceful environment WHICH IS AN ACADEMIC • enforce rules against disruptive student INSTITUTION OF HIGHER LEARNING behavior (SUBSECTION 210.1) • provide open space and landscaping buffers American University was chartered as an between university facilities and the sur- educational institution of higher learning by act of rounding community Congress on February 24, 1893, and founded under • locate and design loading docks and the auspices of the United Methodist Church. mechanical systems to reduce, as much as possible, the noise they produce 7.2 THE USE IS LOCATED SO THAT • design and locate activities within the IT IS NOT LIKELY TO BECOME Campus Plan boundaries in order to mini- OBJECTIONABLE TO NEIGHBORING mize impact on the community PROPERTY BECAUSE OF NOISE , In the 2001 Campus Plan approval, the uni- TRAFFIC, NUMBER OF STUDENTS, versity agreed to a condition that guided use of the OR OTHER OBJECTIONABLE athletic fields on the western edge of the campus CONDITIONS (SUBSECTION 210.2) for special events (such as graduation, homecom- For the reasons set forth below, the university’s ing, picnics, receptions, or charitable events). The proposed use is not likely to become objectionable university will agree to a similar condition in the to neighboring property. 2011 Plan. The details of the guidelines for special events to be held on the athletic fields can be found 7.2.1 Noise in Section 8 of this statement. Uses within the Campus Plan boundaries are designed to minimize objectionable impacts on the 7.2.2 Traffic and Parking neighboring community. Specifically, new facilities Transportation consultants from Gorove/Slade proposed in the 2011 Plan have been designed and have prepared a detailed Transportation Report located to minimize impact on the surrounding and Technical Analysis evaluating the impacts of community in terms of noise. The proposed new the development plan proposed in the 2011 Plan buildings on the East Campus and the addition to for both the Main Campus and the Tenley Campus Nebraska Hall are designed to minimize impact (Exhibit 22). The report concludes that the 2011 on neighboring properties and include features Plan will cause only slight changes to the transpor- to buffer neighboring properties from any noise tation network in the adjacent area. generated by these buildings. These buildings and Highlighted below are the major findings their impact on the surrounding area are discussed of the Transportation Report related to the Main in greater detail in Section 9 of this statement. Campus. In the continuing effort to control and reduce • AU Main Campus–based vehicles account objectionable noise, the 2011 Plan proposes to: for 7.5 percent and 8.5 percent of all traffic • locate campus activities to address the needs into the study area on roadways adjacent to of students, staff, and faculty for appro- the campus during the commuter weekday priately quiet and secure places to study, AM and PM peak hours, respectively.

34 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN Traveling out of the study area, AU Main university does recognize that improving the qual- Campus–based vehicles account for 2.2 ity and safety of the area transportation network percent and 11.2 percent of all traffic on would be in its best interest. Thus, the university roadways adjacent to the campus during is willing to work with neighborhood stakeholders the commuter weekday AM and PM peak in order to address existing vehicular and pedes- hours, respectively. trian traffic issues at Ward Circle. At this point, no • The number of vehicular trips generated by recommendations can be made regarding potential the AU Main Campus during the weekday solutions, but the goal of such a study would be to AM and PM peak hours is declining, at a reach a conclusion on a long-term solution. rate of 3.9 percent per year since 1999. Highlighted below are the major findings of • The number of parked vehicles on campus the Transportation Report related to the Tenley during a typical fall semester weekday on Campus. the AU Main Campus is declining, at a rate • The potential transportation impacts of of 3.1 percent per year since 1999. the Tenley Campus would be due to the • Because the traffic and parking demand of increase in pedestrian activity to and from the university is in decline, impacts to the the campus, and the shift in drivers from surrounding transportation network will be parking facilities at the WCL’s current loca- minimal with the development of the 2011 tion to the proposed new parking garage on Plan, given that the university maintains the Tenley Campus. its programs and policies directed to the • The technical analysis contained in the reduction of vehicular based traffic. Transportation Report shows that several • Development of the Campus Plan will lead intersections near the Tenley Campus to increases in use of non-vehicular trips, will experience long delays during future such as bicycling and walking. conditions without the development of • Future traffic models with and without the Tenley Campus. Potential mitigation development of the 2011 Plan show that measures for these locations are presented in the 2011 Plan will not create any unaccept- the report. able traffic conditions that are not projected • The addition of Tenley Campus vehicular to exist without the development of the and pedestrian traffic does not cause any 2011 Plan. intersections adjacent to campus to oper- • The detailed technical analysis contained in ate at unacceptable conditions (that aren’t the Transportation Report identifies loca- projected to without the development of tions where unacceptable conditions exist the Tenley Campus), other than the possible currently and in future scenarios without location of the new Tenley Campus parking the development of the Campus Plan, and garage. An updated traffic analysis will in some locations includes potential mitiga- be compiled at the time of the Further tion measures. Processing application for the relocation of • Although the technical analysis did not the WCL facilities to the Tenley Campus. identify any negative impacts directly gen- The updated traffic analysis will identify erated by the 2011 Plan, the Transportation any mitigation measures needed as a result Report contains recommendations to of the final driveway location for access to minimize impacts related to the develop- the parking garage. ment of the East Campus, summarized in The university encourages the use of public the Further Processing section (9.1.4). transportation by all members of the AU commu- During the development of the Transportation nity. In the last year, more than 1.7 million riders Report and through discussions with the com- used the university’s free shuttle buses, thereby re- munity, it became clear that several concerns exist placing thousands of individual car trips. Between regarding transportation congestion and safety 1995 and 2010, shuttle use nearly doubled, in- in the network surrounding the Main Campus. creasing 195 percent. These shuttle buses connect Although the Transportation Report showed that the Main Campus with the Tenleytown Metrorail the development of the 2011 Plan would not have station, the Tenley Campus, and the Washington an effect on these pre-existing conditions, the College of Law (located at 4801 Massachusetts

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 35 Avenue, NW). This extensive use of the shuttle living off campus overwhelmingly (approximately bus system increases the availability of parking on 80 percent) live in apartment buildings, and campus and promotes safe and efficient circulation more than 50 percent live in two specific apart- of traffic on and near the campus. ment buildings—the Berkshire and the Avalon The existing and continued success of the at Foxhall, both on Massachusetts Avenue within university at reducing dependence on vehicular walking distance to campus. As a result, the vast transportation is led by their shuttle program and majority of its students living in these neighbor- other Transportation Demand Management (TDM) hoods do not live in group houses; indeed, only measures. The Transportation Report summarizes 238 undergraduates live in houses in all of 20016. the existing TDM programs and policies and The data (in Exhibit 5) shows that of the 1,176 discusses potential additions for the 2011 Plan, undergraduate students living in 20016, there are including the following: only 13 group houses with four or more students. • Maintain the following programs: Historically AU has had few problems with inappropriate off-campus student behavior; »» AU shuttle routes nevertheless, additional efforts have been taken to »» SmartBenefits program be even more effective in responding when neces- »» Carpooling program and Web-based ride-matching service sary. The student conduct code has been amended to extend jurisdiction and empower AU to bring »» Commuter bike benefit program • Add the following programs: charges under the code for off-campus transgres- sions. A standing committee of university admin- »» Enhance marketing of programs, includ- ing an enhanced Web site consolidating istrators meets every other week to track cases and all transportation information in a single coordinate interventions. And AU Public Safety location, incorporation of information collaborates regularly with MPD 2nd District on kiosks and electronic message boards in these matters. new campus buildings, and marketing The dean of students’ office tracks and re- of transportation options to incoming sponds to complaints, and the data indicates that new residential students at orientation. since 2002, from six to 10 “problem addresses” emerge each year; during 2009-10, for example, »» Incorporate bike parking with new resi- dence halls and reserve space for future eight addresses required intervention. Upon expansion of Zipcar parking and Capital receiving a complaint, the dean of students’ staff Bikeshare stations. teams with AU Public Safety to respond and curb objectionable behaviors. The associate dean meets 7.2.3 Number of Students with all students who live at the problem address; The development proposed in the 2011 Plan if troubles persist, the associate dean will engage will not create objectionable conditions due to the the landlord or property manager; if more formal proposed number of students. The total number action is required, the offending students may face of students counted in the 2011 Plan will increase discipline by the university, police intervention, or with the addition of Washington College of Law termination of the lease by the landlord. A more students, who are currently not included in AU’s complete description is included in Exhibit 4. authorized enrollment numbers but will be added In the 2011 Plan, AU proposes to reduce after moving to the Tenley Campus. As shown in the total percentage of students for which it will Exhibit 6, the university is also seeking a limited provide housing to 55 percent, while increas- increase in enrollment of undergraduate students ing to 100 percent the number of freshmen and and modest growth in its graduate and professional sophomores in university housing. Given where programs (which have a different matriculation and its students live in the surrounding area and the residential demographic). The 2011 Plan envisions type of housing that they live in (coupled with the a total enrollment of up to 13,600 students. comparatively low rate of inappropriate off-campus The university has engaged in an exhaustive behavior incidents), AU suggests a modification in analysis of where its students, undergraduate and the requirement to house two-thirds of its under- graduate, live in the surrounding neighborhoods graduate students. (defined as neighborhoods in the 20016 zip code). While one of the main goals of the 2011 Plan The university has found that undergraduates is to provide significant upgrades to on-campus

36 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN student housing, maintaining the two-thirds 7.4.1 Buildings, Parking, and Loading threshold will be difficult—especially with com- Facilities munity resistance to additional student housing proposals discussed for East Campus and South (a) Buildings Campus. AU believes it can continue to satisfy the In determining its facility and space needs, AU Zoning Regulations’ requirements of not creating has been guided by the following principles: adverse impacts on adjacent properties by providing • The university must provide its students housing for 100 percent of freshmen and sopho- with an outstanding academic program and mores and 55 percent of all undergraduate students. a complete learning environment, and must For these reasons, the development proposed in the provide its faculty and staff with a high- 2011 Plan will not create objectionable conditions quality working environment and adequate due to the proposed number of students. resources and facilities. • The university must maintain and upgrade 7.2.4 Faculty and Staff Count its facilities in order to stay competitive Faculty and staff population as of fall 2010 with other universities. was 2,200, excluding 400 law school faculty and • The university is committed to improv- staff, who are not on Campus Plan property. The ing the undergraduate experience, which 2011 Plan proposes a faculty and staff population of includes a focus on providing improved 2,900, including the law school. on-campus housing to undergraduates. Three projects are being presented with the 7.2.5 Other Objectionable Conditions Campus Plan application as Further Processing The 2011 Plan does not create any other objec- applications. The Further Processing applications tionable conditions on adjacent or nearby proper- are for: ties. Just as it has in the past, the university will i. the development of East Campus continue to work with the surrounding community ii. an addition to Nebraska Hall in addressing the issues and concerns that have been iii. an addition to the Mary Graydon Center raised and may be raised in the future. The Further Processing applications are dis- cussed in detail in Section 9 of this statement. As 7.3 COMPLIANCE WITH THE noted above, the university intends to file a Further MAXIMUM BULK REQUIREMENTS Processing application for the relocation of the (SUBSECTION 210.3) Washington College of Law to the Tenley Campus The property within the Campus Plan bound- approximately 60–75 days after the filing of this aries is zoned R-1-B, R-5-A, and a portion of the application. Nebraska Avenue parking lot (East Campus) is The non–Further Processing applications zoned R-5-B. Pursuant to the Zoning Regulations, are discussed in more detail in Section 6 of this the maximum bulk for all buildings and structures statement. on campus cannot exceed the gross floor area The last major housing project constructed on prescribed for the R-5-B district. The maximum the AU Campus, Centennial Hall, is approximately amount of development proposed in the 2011 23 years old. It is essential to improve AU’s hous- Plan results in a FAR of only 0.8, less than 45 ing in order to better connect students to campus percent of the 1.8 FAR permitted under the Zoning life and attract the best and brightest prospective Regulations. This low-density development is con- students. As noted above, under the 2001 Plan AU sistent with the university’s interest in maintaining must provide housing for 85 percent of freshmen the residential character of the campus. and sophomores and two-thirds of its undergradu- ates: a requirement AU can meet only through 7.4 SUBMISSION OF A PLAN FOR tripling students in rooms meant for two, housing DEVELOPING THE CAMPUS AS A 200 students in the Berkshire apartment building WHOLE (SUBSECTION 210.4) (located nearby on Massachusetts Avenue) under This statement and the attached appendix serve an AU lease, and housing close to 500 students as the university’s plan for developing the campus on the Tenley Campus in residence halls that as a whole, as required under 11 DCMR § 210.4. will be replaced as part of the plan to relocate the Washington College of Law to the Tenley Campus.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 37 The 2011 Plan proposes the construction of 7.4.2 Screening, Signs, Streets, Public approximately 1,290 new beds, which will be Utility Facilities developed on the following building sites: • East Campus: 770 new beds (a) Screening • Nebraska Hall Addition: 120 new beds The university makes a great effort to maintain • South Hall (currently the Child an attractive campus environment and continues Development Center): 200 beds to develop streetscape improvements and enhance- • North Hall (currently the surface parking ments throughout the campus. AU has planted lot behind the President’s Office Building): more than 1,200 trees on its campus in the past 200 beds 12 years, in addition to thousands of shrubs and The construction of these new residential facili- perennials. The university’s grounds have earned ties will raise AU’s capacity to approximately 4,300 designation as a public garden and arboretum. beds. These new residential facilities will allow More than 2,500 trees of over 130 different species for de-tripling of students and the removal of the and varieties demonstrate AU’s commitment to 500 beds on the Tenley Campus and will provide the community standard of natural beauty. Pocket beds for the proposed increase in undergraduate parks, gathering spots, sculpture sites, and small enrollment. The East Campus and Nebraska Hall water features are laced throughout the campus, Addition projects are described in detail in Section and the university’s neighbors are welcome to walk 9 of this statement. the campus. The landscaped elements of the 2011 Information regarding the location of all exist- Campus Plan seek to enhance the visual impact of ing and proposed buildings, including the approxi- the campus, form a stronger sense of place, create mate height and bulk of all proposed buildings, can a sense of harmony with the surrounding commu- be found in Exhibits 10–21. nity, improve pedestrian connections, and enhance AU’s open space system. (b) Parking American University’s current parking in- (b) Signs ventory includes approximately 2,724 off-street The university has a comprehensive signage spaces. Since the year 2000, demand for on-campus program that has been implemented throughout parking spaces has declined. From 2000 to 2008, the campus. This includes signs on Massachusetts the average daily demand for parking has dropped and Nebraska avenues. These signs provide such that in 2010, approximately 55–60 percent identification and direction to the university and of the parking spaces on campus are occupied. its facilities. Signs will be updated to accommodate Parking spaces will be added to accommodate proposed changes to the campus. new and expanded buildings, while some will be removed to accommodate new buildings. The (c) Public Utilities and Facilities proposed transportation-related changes for the The university is currently served by all major Main Campus result in the overall reduction of utilities. It also has a central steam plant to serve approximately 429 parking spaces. many of its buildings. The utility infrastructure is in good condition and is regularly maintained. (c) Loading The increased use of public utility services that will Most of the university’s general deliveries take occur as a result of the implementation of the 2011 place at central receiving facility in Anderson Hall, Plan will not adversely impact the District’s deliv- while most food deliveries are received in Mary ery systems. The utility infrastructure is adequate Graydon Center. A small number of special deliver- to serve the future development contemplated in ies occur at loading docks and departments located the 2011 Plan. No special utility development throughout the campus. conditions are expected to be required in connec- tion with the 2011 Plan.

38 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN (d) Lighting 7.4.4 Description of All Activities and of In the 2001 Plan, the university adopted a Capacity of All Present and Proposed lighting plan that included the following elements: Campus Development • All new outdoor lighting fixtures shall be The activities to be conducted on campus designated, located, and installed so as to include those activities associated with general avoid the extension of spotlights beyond and auxiliary university uses and are consistent the boundaries of the campus. with the activities included in the 2001 Plan. The • All lighting fixtures installed inside new general land use categories presented in the 2011 campus buildings shall be equipped with Plan to describe campus activities are: Academic/ motion sensors that turn the lights off Administrative; Campus Life/ Residential; Parking; when not in use, except for lighting fixtures and Athletic. There is no proposed increase in the installed in common areas or in other loca- amount of building square footage devoted to park- tions where constant lighting is needed for ing in the 2011 Plan. Exhibit 10 depicts existing security or other reasons. land use zones, and Exhibit 12 shows proposed land • Spotlights and outdoor lighting, both new use zones. With the exception of the East Campus and existing, shall be directed inward, and the Tenley Campus, the proposed land use downward, and away from the campus patterns will remain largely unchanged, and all perimeter, and shielded when necessary planned buildings will provide an environment to avoid lighting on the outside of the consistent with the existing campus. perimeter, to avoid objectionable impacts on neighboring property. 7.4.5 Historic Preservation Element • Energy-efficient lighting shall be used to The development of the AU campus visually illuminate roadways, parking lots, pedes- reflects the development of the university as it has trian walkways, and building exits, in order grown into the educational institution it is today. to achieve legitimate security requirements. The original 1893 campus consisted of 90 acres at Such lighting shall be shielded to prevent the southwest quadrant of Ward Circle, between spotlights from extending beyond the Nebraska and Massachusetts avenues. A portion campus boundary. of the campus was donated for the founding of The university will continue to abide by these Wesley Seminary, and other portions were sold conditions in the 2011 Plan. at various points in the university’s history. This campus was expanded in the late twentieth century 7.4.3 Athletic and Other Recreational by the acquisition of two parcels at Ward Circle. Facilities In 1978, the university acquired land forming the As noted above, the university plans to southeast quadrant of Ward Circle, and in 1983, construct bleachers on the Osborn site that will it acquired land at the northwest quadrant of add 2,000 seats to the existing 800 seats and to that circle. More recently, in 1986, the university improve the entry pavilion at Reeves Field. This purchased the eight-acre Tenley Campus, just west was also proposed in the 2001 Campus Plan. The of Tenley Circle. That campus was, until that time, university also seeks to add a gymnasium on the completely unrelated to the university’s history and site of the existing outdoor tennis courts. The development. existing Sports Center Annex will be replaced by The university must continue to evolve and an expanded facility. Neither of these projects is grow in order to maintain and further its position currently proposed as a Further Processing applica- as a nationally-recognized institution of higher tion. At the time the university proposes to move learning. The university recognizes that as it grows forward with these projects, the university will it must consider the physical representations of file Further Processing applications that will allow its history, particularly those buildings and places for community review and input to the Zoning most important to its evolution, and that it must Commission. continually balance the demands—educational,

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 39 physical, and financial—with appropriate stew- 7.4.8 Compliance with the Policies ardship of those buildings and places. Therefore, of the District Elements of the new development proposed in the 2011 Plan will Comprehensive Plan (Sub-section 210.7) be accomplished in a manner that addresses the American University is located in the university’s programmatic and space needs, while Institutional Land Use category on the Future at the same time considering historic preservation Land Use Map of the 2006 Comprehensive Plan concerns. and is designated as an Institutional site on the As part of the development of the 2011 Plan Generalized Policy Map of the Comprehensive and in response to requests of OP and the Historic Plan. The property’s continued use as a university Preservation Office (HPO), the university has campus as well as the proposed changes within the undertaken efforts to better understand its history 2011 Plan are consistent with these map designa- as expressed by its buildings and the development tions, which provide for “change and infill” on of its campuses, including the Tenley Campus, university campuses consistent with campus plans. even though the association of that campus with See 10 DCMR § 223.22. Modernized facilities American University dates only from 1986. and new residential buildings will enhance the This effort, which is on-going, has allowed the university in a way that is consistent with the university to consider the potential of the 2011 Institutional Land Use designation. Overall, the Plan to affect buildings and spaces that are 2011 Plan, as discussed herein, is not inconsistent particularly important to the university. As a result with the Comprehensive Plan. of this effort, the university is no longer proposing The 2011 Plan incorporates many elements the site of the original School of International of the Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Service (SIS) as a development site. Indeed, the Plan. Policy 2.3.5 recognizes the importance of 2011 Plan now proposes no demolition of existing universities to the “economy, character, history, buildings on the Main Campus. and future of the District of Columbia.” Policy The Historic Preservation Element (“HP LU-2.3.5 calls for “institutions and neighborhoods Element”) of the 2011 Plan will provide for the to work proactively” to address issues such as traffic identification and evaluation of the university’s and parking and facility expansion. Consistent buildings and spaces to fully understand their role with this directive, the university developed the in the development of the university and the evolu- proposed 2011 Plan through a meaningful commu- tion of its campuses. The university will consult nity-based planning process that solicited input on with HPO on its findings and, in consideration of key issues and sought to address each issue in the its stewardship responsibilities, about an appropri- plan itself. The proposed 2011 Plan includes efforts ate mechanism for efficient review of future work to mitigate traffic and parking impacts through the affecting those buildings and spaces identified as AU shuttle bus system, onsite parking, and other significant. A short history of the university and transportation demand management measures discussion of some of its buildings is provided in detailed in Policy LU-3.2.1. In addition, Policies Exhibit 7. LU-1.3J and LU-1.3.2 call for development around Metrorail stations to “minimize the necessity of 7.4.6 No Interim Use of Land Is automobile use and maximize transit ridership.” Proposed (Sub-section 210.5) The 2011 Plan envisions the relocation of No interim use of residentially zoned land is the Washington College of Law to the Tenley specifically requested as part of the 2011 Plan. Campus, which is approximately two blocks from the Tenleytown Metrorail station. Faculty, staff, 7.4.7 No New Use Sought for Approved students, and visitors to the law school will have a Site of Buildings Moved Off Campus great incentive to take Metro. In addition, Policy (Sub-section 210.6) LU-1.3.4 calls for site planning to encourage the The university does not seek approval for any use of public transit. Accordingly, the 2011 Plan new use of a previously approved building site to will incorporate site-planning features, such as im- be moved off campus. proved pedestrian access, to encourage and sustain

40 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN public transit use. The infill development of the mentally sustainable design, high-quality design, East Campus will enhance the urban fabric and and adaptive reuse and preservation of historic will improve the character of the neighborhood, as buildings. See Policy EDU-3.2.2. The 2011 Plan directed by Policy LU-1.4.1. Finally, the proposed specifically includes measures intended to “sup- 2011 Plan will not impose “significant adverse ef- port community improvement and neighborhood fects” on the quality of life for adjacent residential conservation objectives.” See Policy EDU-3.3.2. areas based on noise, lighting, number of students, Finally, the 2011 Plan is consistent with Policy and other factors. See Policy LU-3.2.3. As a result, EDU-3.3.5’s call to mitigate traffic and parking the 2011 Plan is designed and intended to operate impacts by promoting alternative transportation in a manner that is “sensitive to neighborhood methods and by implementing transportation issues,” as required by Policy LU-2.3.5, and will demand management measures. minimize objectionable impacts, as prescribed by The 2011 Plan fulfills several aspects of the Policy LU-3.2.3. Urban Design Element of the Comprehensive American University is committed to mitigat- Plan. The Campus Plan incorporates extensive ing transportation impacts on the surrounding landscaping elements to shade surface parking neighborhood as part of the 2011 Plan. Policy areas, but, more importantly, the 2011 Plan reduces T-3.1.1 implores the use of programs and strate- the amount of surface parking from the campus. gies to reduce car trips. In accord with this policy, All of these measures are consistent with Policy the 2011 Plan includes a transportation demand UD-2.2.10. Also, the 2011 Plan incorporates management program that will incorporate numer- sustainable design, the adaptive reuse of an historic ous measures aimed at reducing car trips to and building on the Tenley Campus, and the incorpora- from campus. The university’s proposed transporta- tion of existing features of the campus to improve tion demand management program is discussed in the overall campus design. These design features detail in Section 7.2.2 and Exhibit 22. advance Policy UD-2.3.5. The 2011 Plan will continue to permit Finally, the 2011 Plan is consistent with American University to thrive and evolve, which numerous Elements of the Rock Creek West Area. furthers important policies and goals of the Policy RCW-1.1.8 calls for the redevelopment or Economic Development and Education Elements expansion of institutional land uses to be compat- of the Comprehensive Plan. The Economic ible with the physical character of the community, Development Element notes that educational indicates that the density of future institutional services, as one of the 20 largest private sector development should reflect surrounding land uses industries, as well as one of the top 15 projected as well as input from the local community, and high-growth industries in the District, are a encourages potential adverse effects to be mini- “core” District industry. See Policy ED-1.1.2. In mized. As described above, the proposed 2011 recognition of this importance, the Comprehensive Plan is consistent with this policy. In addition, the Plan specifically “supports growth in the higher infill development proposed for the East Campus, education” sector based on its potential to create the Tenley Campus and the Nebraska Hall addi- jobs and income opportunities as well as enhance tion, advances Policy RCW-1.1.4, which calls for District cultural amenities. See Policy ED-2.4.1. recognizing opportunities for infill development The preparation and content of the proposed and developing it in a way that is sensitive to the 2011 Plan is consistent with Educational Element community. Finally, the 2011 Plan includes numer- policies that encourage university growth and ous measures to control traffic congestion and to development through the campus plan process mitigate the impacts of student, faculty, staff, and and attention to community issues and concerns. visitor traffic; all of these measures are consistent See Policies EDU-3.3.2 and EDU-3.3.3. Specific with Policy RCW-1.1.12. features of the 2011 Plan support the Education Element’s call for good “corporate citizenship” by universities through commitments to environ-

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 41 7.4.9 Proposed Buildings are Within the 7.4.10 Referral to the District of Floor Area Limit for the Campus as a Columbia Office of Planning and the Whole (Sub-section 210.8) District of Columbia Department of When added to all existing buildings and Transportation (Sub-section 210.9) structures on campus, development under the 2011 AU and its development team have engaged in Plan will not exceed the proposed aggregated FAR significant dialogue and meetings with representa- limits for the campus. If all proposed development tives of the OP, HPO, and DDOT. This Campus is constructed, the gross floor area within the Plan application has been referred to OP and Campus Plan boundaries will total approximately DDOT for their review and report. 2.8 million square feet. This results in an overall FAR of 0.8 (Exhibit 8).

42 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN SECTION 8 PROPOSED CONDITIONS OF CAMPUS PLAN APPROVAL

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 43 SECTION 8 PROPOSED CONDITIONS OF CAMPUS PLAN APPROVAL

The Zoning Commission approved AU’s 2001 parking. In addition, the 2001 Campus Plan Campus Plan in Order Nos. 949A-C (the “2001 required the university to direct its students to reg- Order”). The 2001 Order contained 19 conditions. ister their vehicles in the District of Columbia, or In the 2011 Plan, the university is proposing the obtain a reciprocity sticker if eligible to do so. The following conditions: applicant withheld parking privileges from stu- dents who did not comply with D.C. registration Undergraduate Housing Requirement requirements. AU will continue to operate these AU shall maintain a supply of housing suf- components of the off-campus parking enforcement ficient to make housing available for 100 percent of program during the 2011 Campus Plan. its full-time freshman and sophomore students and for 55 percent of all full-time undergraduates. The Update at Time of Each Special Exception rationale for this condition is addressed in detail on Application pages 24–25 and 36–37 of this statement. The 2001 Campus Plan required that with each special exception application, the university Conference Use of University Facilities must also submit information as to how the struc- Campus facilities built for residential and ture complies with the approved Campus Plan, instructional purposes may, from time to time, be an updated traffic analysis, a report indicating the used for conferences. AU presents several high-pro- supply of on-campus housing, the number of un- file public programs, networking receptions, and dergraduate students, and the number of full-time alumni events each year, from American Forums freshman and sophomore students. The university and Center for Social Media events, to screenings agrees to include such a condition of approval in and presentations in the Wechsler Theater, to the 2011 Campus Plan. gallery exhibits of student and faculty work. These special programs are important to AU, as outlets to Off-Campus Student Behavior faculty for research and scholarly and professional As a result of the 2001 Campus Plan, the development, as conduits for public service to university implemented a “Neighborhood Action the various disciplines, and as vehicles for public Program” to address off-campus conduct by outreach and development of AU’s reputation and students living in neighborhoods adjacent to the standing within the media community. campus. In 2010, in response to concerns from some members of the community regarding the Liaison Committee university’s handling of some off-campus student Since the adoption of the 2001 Campus Plan, behavior incidents, the university adopted changes the applicant has held regular meetings with the to its Student Conduct Code. Those changes to the Neighborhood Liaison Committee that was created Code of Student Conduct are discussed in detail to foster on-going communication between the on page 36 of this statement. The university will university and the surrounding neighborhoods. AU include as a condition of the 2011 Plan that it will continue to hold regular meetings with the will abide by the terms of the amended Student Neighborhood Liaison Committee on a quarterly Conduct Code adopted in fall 2010. basis or as desired. Special Events on the AU Campus Off-Campus Parking Enforcement To the extent that the university’s athletic In the 2001 Campus Plan, the university was fields on the western edge of the campus are required to adopt a program regarding enforcement used for special events, such as graduation, of student, faculty, staff, and vendor off-campus homecoming, picnics, receptions, or charitable

44 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN events, the special events shall be conditioned as be permitted unreasonably to interfere follows: with or disturb neighbors’ enjoy- (a) Number of events: The number of special ment of their property or with the events requiring sound amplification university’s academic or administrative systems shall be limited to 12 per cal- activities. endar year, unless an additional number (iii) Vehicles essential for servicing the is approved by the Liaison Committee. special events may park in the western The university shall provide neighboring parking area closest to the field, but property owners with telephone numbers only if other parking locations are to reach appropriate representatives of its not feasible, and in no event shall Public Safety Department, or the Office of service vehicles park next to adjacent the Dean of Students, to address concerns residences. regarding noise and activity on the intra- (iv) If an unauthorized special event (an mural athletic field. event not scheduled by the university) (b) Notice: The university shall use its best occurs, neighbors may contact the efforts to provide written, fax, or e-mail designated university staff contact notice of special events—as far in advance person. as possible, but at least 30 days prior to an (v) Guidelines shall be provided to, and event—to residents in the vicinity of the made part of any arrangement between athletic fields, to residents on Woodway the university and the organization Lane and University Avenue, and to any sponsoring the special event or the other residents who request notice or whose department or student group sponsor- names are supplied to the university by the ing the event. Liaison Committee. Events not requiring notice include intercollegiate or intramural Notification to DDOH, EPA, and Corps of sports events, informal athletic events, Engineers or similar recreational activities so long In the 2001 Campus Plan, the univer- as such activities involve and are for the sity was required to provide notification to the benefit of student teams or other groups of D.C. Department of Health, the Army Corps the university. of Engineers (Baltimore Office), and the U.S. (c) The university shall use its best efforts to Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3, each avoid scheduling a special event for a date time that the university files a permit application on which a neighbor has informed the for ground clearance, excavation, or other major university in advance that the neighbor construction that would implicate remedial work is planning a party or other important performed at or around the campus by the Army occasion. Corps of Engineers. The university has satisfied this (d) Guidelines: The university shall use its best condition and will continue to do so in the 2011 efforts to observe the following guidelines Campus Plan. relating to special events on the athletic fields: Construction Activity (i) Special events will be conducted The university will abide by all D.C. noise between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and regulations in its operations and during construc- dusk. tion activities. Construction activity will occur (ii) Sound amplification at special events only during the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., produced by public address systems, Monday through Friday. However, interior work loudspeakers, bullhorns, musical not creating an impact on neighboring residences amplifiers, or other similar devices for may take place outside these hours. the intensification of sound shall not

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 45 46 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN SECTION 9 FURTHER PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAST CAMPUS, THE NEBRASKA HALL ADDITION, AND THE MARY GRAYDON CENTER ADDITION

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 47 SECTION 9 FURTHER PROCESSING APPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAST CAMPUS, THE NEBRASKA HALL ADDITION, AND THE MARY GRAYDON CENTER ADDITION

9.1 DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAST Development of the new East Campus will CAMPUS (FORMER NEBRASKA include a total of approximately 329,000 gross AVENUE PARKING LOT SITE) square feet of new space. Of the new building area, 245,100 square feet will be dedicated to student 9.1.1 Description of East Campus housing. The northern part of the East Campus, Property and Surrounding Area with frontage along Massachusetts Avenue and The proposed East Campus will be located on adjacent to Ward Circle, is not included in the an 8.1-acre parcel that is located across Nebraska Further Processing application. That area will Avenue from the central campus and is currently remain a surface parking lot with approximately used as a surface parking lot with approximately 200 parking spaces and will be reserved for a future 900 surface parking spaces. Those parking spaces signature academic building, similar to the Katzen are used by AU faculty, staff, and students and Arts Center. The 2011 Plan does not anticipate visitors to the campus. The East Campus property that such a signature academic building will be is bound by Massachusetts Avenue to the north, the constructed in the period of 2011–2020. Westover Place townhouse community to the east, New Mexico Avenue to the south, and Nebraska 9.1.3 Functional, Sensitive, and Avenue to the west. The headquarters for the U.S. Appropriate Design Department of Homeland Security is located to the north of the property directly across Massachusetts (a) Development Goals and Results of Avenue. Numerous large apartment and condo- Community Dialogue Process minium buildings are located along Massachusetts The applicant and its design team have Avenue to the east of the property. A significant engaged in extensive dialogue with members of the number of AU students live in these buildings surrounding community, including residents of the and walk along Massachusetts Avenue to the AU Westover Place townhouse community, regarding campus. development of the East Campus. In a presentation at the September 28, 2010, Community Taskforce 9.1.2 Summary of Proposed East Meeting, the project architects noted that develop- Campus Development ment of the East Campus will be successful if it: The university proposes to construct six new • promotes student life, success equal to the buildings on the East Campus. These buildings academic reputation of AU will include: four new residential buildings that • indentifies the student as the center of the will provide approximately 770 new residential campus success beds; a new administrative building that will • contributes to the diversity of housing be located at the intersection of Nebraska and options on campus New Mexico avenues; and an administrative and • grows international student accommodations academic building located on the eastern end of • is a sensitive neighbor to its surroundings the property, which will serve as a buffer between • embraces a sustainable strategy consistent the institutional uses on the East Campus and with the campus initiative the Westover Place townhouse community on the • provides an expanded campus that is safe adjacent property. for students and residents

48 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN • provides flexible facilities that can adapt to be designed and constructed in order to achieve changing campus needs over time LEED Gold certification. Plans, elevations, and • promotes an architectural character consis- drawings of the proposed East Campus develop- tent with the existing campus ment, as well as photographs of existing conditions, The university has sought to address the are attached as Exhibit 21. following community concerns as it has designed and refined the proposed buildings on the East (b) Detailed Description of the Proposed East Campus: Campus Development • increased noise in the community due to Entrance to the East Campus will be marked the proposed residential use on the East by a new administrative building located at the Campus intersection of Nebraska Avenue and New Mexico • the proposed location of the new residential Avenue. This administrative building (labeled as structures on the former parking lot Building No. 5 in the site plan provided in Exhibit • issues related to pedestrian safety for 21) is intended to house a new visitors center, other the new students who will be crossing administrative offices, and 3,000 square feet that Nebraska Avenue from their residence halls will be reserved for retail uses that are intended to campus on the west side of Nebraska to cater to the residents of the East Campus. This Avenue and concerns about current pat- building will be four stories tall with a measured terns of mid-block pedestrian crossings of building height of approximately 54 feet tall. The Nebraska Avenue architectural character of this building, including • enhanced traffic from personal vehicles its curved entrance features and tower element at and trucks that will be coming to the East the corner of the intersection of Nebraska and New Campus Mexico avenues is intended to evoke the architec- • the amount of density proposed on the East tural character of the McKinley Building on the Campus in terms of the number of students campus west of Nebraska Avenue and helps connect to be housed and the size and scale of the the campus as one crosses Nebraska Avenue. The buildings proposed exterior of this building will include glass and • the visual impact that the proposed devel- light-colored pre-cast in an effort to be responsive opment will have on adjacent properties to the limestone appearance of the buildings Specific steps that have been taken by the located along the west side of Nebraska Avenue university in response to these concerns include: (the Ward Circle Building, Hurst Hall, and the old • a significant reduction in the number of SIS building). beds proposed on the East Campus, from an The first student housing building on the initial proposal of 1,000 beds to the current East Campus (identified as Building No. 1 in the proposal for 770 beds materials included in Exhibit 21) is located along • a re-orientation of the residential build- Nebraska Avenue, to the north of Building No. ings in order to lessen the visual impact 5. This building will be six stories tall, with a on the adjacent residential properties and measured building height of approximately 62 feet. to remove all windows on the residential The height, mass, and setbacks of this building buildings that would have views toward the (along with Building No. 5) have been carefully adjacent residential properties studied to assure that the appearance of this build- • the creation of an academic/administrative ing is consistent with the appearance of the build- building that will serve as a buffer, both vi- ings along Nebraska Avenue on the campus west of sually and in order to block noise, between Nebraska Avenue. The goal has been to maintain the residential uses on the East Campus and the character of this part of Nebraska Avenue as the adjacent residential properties a leafy, broad avenue. As shown in a site section • the relocation of the entrance to the under- through Nebraska Avenue, included in Exhibit 21, ground parking and loading facilities to a Building No. 1 on the East Campus will be setback point that is further from the East Campus from the Nebraska Avenue curb approximately 70 boundary with the adjacent residential feet. The buildings along the west side of Nebraska property Avenue are setback approximately 85 feet from the All of the buildings on the East Campus will curb along Nebraska Avenue.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 49 The streetscape treatment of Nebraska Avenue as the existing curb cuts on New Mexico Avenue. on the East Campus has also been carefully studied Building No. 3 is a five-story residential in order to create an inviting and active pedestrian building, approximately 54 feet tall, that is located experience, while also creating landscape and in the center of the East Campus. It is flanked by hardscape barriers to prevent mid-block pedestrian courtyards to the south and to the north that are crossings of Nebraska Avenue. As shown in a 165 feet wide and are intended to provide active section along Nebraska Avenue in Exhibit 21, the and passive recreation spaces for the residents existing row of mature street trees that currently of East Campus. The ground floor of this build- shield the existing parking lot on Nebraska Avenue ing will include meeting space and staff/faculty will remain in a six-foot planting strip. Adjacent apartments. In total, the building will include to the planting strip is an eight-foot sidewalk approximately 157 residential beds. In response to and then a vegetative buffer of approximately 38 concerns that were raised by the Westover Place feet. This vegetative buffer will include enhanced residents, the orientation of this building, as well understory planting that will provide views to the as Building Nos. 2 and 4, has been shifted so that first floor uses in Building No. 1, but will also all windows from dormitory rooms now face into restrict pedestrian movement from the sidewalk to one of the courtyards and not toward the Westover the 24-foot-wide promenade area that is adjacent to Place community. Building No. 1. The existing roadway lighting will Building No. 4 is also a five-story residential be replaced with 14-foot-tall ornamental lights that building, approximately 54 feet tall, that is located are more in scale with the pedestrians walking along on the northern end of the residential core of the on the adjacent sidewalk. East Campus. This building will include approxi- Building No. 1 will include approximately mately 195 beds with faculty and staff apartments 280 residential beds. The ground floor uses will on the ground floor. Just as in Building No. 3, all include approximately 11,000 square feet of retail windows from the dormitory rooms will face the space. There will be no central cafeteria in any of the courtyard and the surface parking lot to the north. residential buildings on the East Campus. The first Building No. 6 is an administrative/academic floor of Building No. 1 also includes meeting space building that has been sited on the property in for residential life activities, which will have direct order to provide a physical buffer between the access to the promenade along Nebraska Avenue, residential uses on the East Campus and the and faculty and staff apartments that will face a Westover Place community to the east. Building landscaped quad that is bound by the other residen- No. 6 will be two-and-a-half stories tall, with tial buildings on the East Campus. The residential a measured building height of approximately units on floors 2–6 will be a mix of unit types. 34 feet. The proposed height of Building No. 6 Building No. 2 is located behind Building is approximately the same as the height of the No. 1 (the administrative building located at the townhomes in the Westover Place community. The intersection of New Mexico and Nebraska avenues). intended uses of the building will include meeting Building No. 2 will be five stories tall, with a space, residential life activities space, offices, and measured building height of approximately 54 academic space. In response to comments from OP feet. This building will include approximately 140 and the Westover Place residents, Building No. 6 residential beds. Building No. 2 has frontage along has been set back from the property line with the New Mexico Avenue and will define the southern Westover Place community a minimum distance of border of the East Campus. The proposed streetscape 40 feet, but the majority of the setback ranges from treatment along New Mexico Avenue has also approximately 55 to 78 feet. received significant attention from the university’s The appearance of Building No. 6 from design team. In response to concerns raised during Nebraska Avenue is intended to convey that the community dialogue process, the university has the use of this building is not residential, so the removed the university-related retail uses that were materials on the west façade of the building are initially proposed in the street level of Building similar to those found on Building No. 5. The No. 2. In addition, the university has re-designed entrance to Building No. 6 also appears to peek out the New Mexico Avenue elevation of Building No. from behind Building No. 2, in order to announce 2 so that the vehicular entrance to the below-grade to students, faculty, and staff the location of this parking and loading can occur in the same location administrative/academic building. The university

50 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN and its design team continue to refine the poten- 9.1.4 Development of the East Campus tial façade materials for the east elevation of the Is not Likely to Become Objectionable building (the elevation of the building that faces to Neighboring Property Because of Westover Place), in order to create an appropriate Noise, Traffic and Parking, Number transition to the Westover Place townhouses. of Students/Faculty/Staff, or Other The existing buffer area between Building No. Objectionable Conditions 6 and the Westover Place community is currently populated with a large number of significant trees as (a) No Adverse Impacts Related to Noise shown in Exhibit 21. The university will augment Will Occur as a Result of the East Campus this area with a landscaped berm, which further Development reduces the appearance of Building No. 6 from As noted above, the residential buildings have the Westover Place community. Additional tree been oriented in such a way that no windows on the plantings in the understory of the landscaped buffer upper floors of the buildings will face the Westover will be made in order to create a well designed and Place community. In addition to mitigating the conceived landscape buffer that will be effective all visual impact of these buildings, this orientation year long. also reduces the potential amount of noise generat- The proposed development of the East Campus ed by the residential use. The location of Building will result in a reduction in the overall number of No. 6 will help block any noise from activities that vehicle parking spaces that will be provided on the occur on the two courtyards located in the center property. There are currently 900 parking spaces of the East Campus. In addition, there will be no on the East Campus. Construction of the proposed direct entrance to the ground floor of Building No. East Campus will result in only 500 parking spaces 6 on the eastern elevation of the building. There being located on the East Campus, 300 spaces will also be no balconies or terraces on the eastern located in a single below-grade level of parking elevation of this building. These design features that will be located under Building Nos. 1–6 and were created to address concerns from the Westover 200 spaces on the remaining surface parking lot Place community regarding the potential noise that adjacent to Massachusetts Avenue and Ward Circle. may arise from Building No. 6. Significant numbers of bicycle parking spaces will also be provided for residents of East Campus, as (b) No Adverse Impacts Related to Traffic well as university staff members who will work and Parking Will Occur as a Result of the East on the East Campus in the below-grade parking Campus Development level. In addition, numerous bicycle parking spaces The Transportation Report and Technical and facilities will be located throughout the East Analysis (Exhibit 22) contains a detailed analysis of Campus development. transportation impacts of the 2011 Plan. Included Loading facilities for all six buildings will also is a determination of the impact of development of be located in this below-grade level. Access to the the East Campus. This report and analysis focused parking and loading facilities will occur from New on the major differences in future traffic conditions Mexico Avenue, in the approximate location of the with and without development of the East Campus existing entrance to the Nebraska Avenue parking and specifically addressed: lot. The existing curb cut and vehicular exit from • the increases in pedestrian traffic crossing the parking lot onto Nebraska Avenue will be Nebraska Avenue due to new building removed as a result of the development of the East construction Campus. A new right-turn-in- and right-turn-out- • the decreases in pedestrian traffic crossing only entrance/exit from the East Campus, which Nebraska Avenue due to the loss of parking will be accessible from the six buildings and the spaces on the Nebraska Avenue parking lot remaining surface parking lot, onto Massachusetts • the change in how drivers will approach Avenue will be created as a result of the proposed and depart parking on the East Campus development of the East Campus. This entrance/exit generated by the removal of the right-in/ will be aligned with the entrance to the Department right-out driveway on Nebraska Avenue and of Homeland Security’s parking lot entrance/exit on its replacement on Massachusetts Avenue the other side of Massachusetts Avenue.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 51 To account for these changes, the following • Although the traffic model results show pedestrian and vehicular trips were added to the acceptable conditions at all intersections, future traffic projections: the design of the East Campus and its • Pedestrian trips were generated for several surrounding roadways can incorporate sources, notably the additional beds in the some design measures to help further residence halls but also for the new admis- reduce impacts by organizing crosswalks, sions welcome center and campus-related pedestrian facilities, and bus stop locations. retail use. Trips for new residence halls These design elements are discussed in the were based on counts of existing on-campus Transportation Report. All recommenda- residence halls. Trips for the proposed retail tions that occur on the East Campus have uses were based on activity data from the been incorporated into its design. existing campus store. • As described in the Technical Analysis, • Some pedestrian trips were removed from with development of the 2011 Plan, the crosswalks based on the loss of parking number of pedestrians crossing Nebraska spaces on the Nebraska Avenue surface Avenue at the crosswalk at the intersec- lot. These were determined by examining tion of New Mexico Avenue and Nebraska vehicular trip generation rates and assuming Avenue will be 203 and 473 per hour one person per car would cross Nebraska during the AM and PM peak hours, respec- Avenue. tively. This equates to an average of 6 and • The net increase in pedestrian trips was 13 pedestrians during each “Walk” phase split between the crosswalks over Nebraska for the crosswalk over Nebraska Avenue. Avenue at New Mexico Avenue (75 percent) • Similarly, the number of pedestrians and Ward Circle (25 percent). The split was crossing Nebraska Avenue at Ward Circle based on the layout of the East Campus and adjacent to East Campus is expected to the likely destinations of pedestrians on the be 376 and 509 during the AM and PM Main Campus. peak hours, respectively. This equates to • Changes to vehicular volumes were made an average of 10 and 14 pedestrians during based on existing trip counts at the drive- each “Walk” phase for the crosswalk over way on Nebraska Avenue, and projected Nebraska Avenue. change on approach patterns of drivers that The following summarizes the recommenda- would take advantage of the new right-in/ tions in the Transportation Report, aimed at right-out at Massachusetts Avenue. mitigating the impacts to vehicular delay and The future capacity analyses results, comparing congestion, and changing the orientation of traffic models both with and without the develop- transportation facilities to help reduce pedestrian/ ment of the 2011 Plan, came to the following vehicular conflicts. conclusions: • elimination of the right-in/right-out • The intersection of Nebraska Avenue and driveway on Nebraska Avenue to the New Mexico Avenue will operate under Nebraska Avenue parking lot (helps reduce acceptable conditions. This is due to the ex- jaywalking) isting traffic signal timing, which separates • inclusion of a landscaped buffer along turning vehicles and pedestrians. Thus, the Nebraska Avenue in the East Campus increased crosswalk traffic will not generate development (helps reduce jaywalking) detrimental impacts. • alteration of the traffic signal operations • Additional pedestrians using the crosswalk at the southwestern corner of Ward Circle over Nebraska Avenue at Ward Circle across Nebraska Avenue to de-conflict will generate impacts to vehicular delays. right-turning vehicles from pedestrians These delays can be mitigated through in the crosswalk (reduces vehicular delay implementing changes to the traffic signal predicted in traffic models) operation that separates the vehicular turn- • installation of a pedestrian-activated traffic ing and pedestrian crossing movements (see signal on Massachusetts Avenue south of mitigation measures below). Ward Circle at the new right-in/right-out

52 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN driveway for the East Campus development of the adjacent communities voiced concern about (facilitates pedestrian crossings and reduces the ability of the East Campus to house any under- vehicular delay at Ward Circle) graduate students. These residents said that they • consolidation of bus stops to take advantage would like to see only administrative and academic of the new pedestrian traffic signal and de- uses on the East Campus and that the university ter potential jaywalking to reach bus stops should construct zero residential beds on the East The East Campus will also include the follow- Campus. After numerous meetings and discussions ing measures as part of the overall Campus TDM with these residents, the university has agreed to program: reduce the number of beds that it is proposing on • All new residence halls will incorporate the East Campus to 770. This 23 percent reduc- quality long-term bicycle storage for tion, voluntarily accepted by the university, allows student use. for the university to address its goals of providing • Short-term bicycle parking at the ground new and varied types of housing to its undergradu- level will be included and will meet DDOT ate students and also addresses the concerns of design standards. the adjacent community regarding the potential • A space for a future Capitol Bikeshare loca- negative effects of housing undergraduate students tion will be located on the East Campus. on the East Campus. • The existing Zipcar spaces on the Nebraska The siting, orientation, and uses of the pro- Avenue surface lot will be available during posed buildings truly mitigate the impacts that construction of the East Campus in a 770 residential beds on the East Campus will have temporary location and maintained with on the adjacent property owners. As noted above new Zipcar spaces constructed in the East in the section regarding the mitigation of noise Campus development. impacts, the residential component of the East • Information kiosks incorporating electronic Campus development is effectively shielded from message boards will be included in lobbies the nearby residential communities. The number of of new residential buildings. faculty, staff, and visitors that will come to the visi- • Incoming freshmen living on campus will tors center in Building No. 5 and to the academic be provided with a packet of information and administrative uses in Building No. 6 will during orientation and/or move-in market- have virtually no impact on the adjacent residential ing transportation options. communities. The significant landscaped buffer between the (c) No Adverse Impacts Related to the Westover Place property line and Building No. 6 Number of Students/Faculty/or Staff Will truly mitigates the impact of the East Campus de- Occur as a Result of the East Campus velopment on the Westover Place community. This Development buffer area already includes a significant number The university and its design team believe that of trees of substantial size that will shield views the creation of 770 residential beds on the East of the new buildings for a majority of the year. In Campus can be accomplished without diminishing addition, the university has agreed to undertake the quality of life of adjacent property owners and significant additional plantings (including ever- without creating adverse impacts on the neighbor- green and deciduous plantings) in the understory ing property owners through three concepts that of the existing trees and landscape material. This have guided the development of the East Campus: buffer area will also be contoured and landscaped in (i) the design of the buildings; (ii) the creation and a manner that will make it unlikely that students maintenance of a physical and landscaped buffer will use this area for passive or active recreational between the proposed buildings and the adjacent activities. Westover Place community; and (iii) the univer- As discussed previously in Sections 5 and 7 sity’s residential life policies. of this statement, the Residential Life policies The university initially proposed a series of of the university play a significant role in the residential buildings on the East Campus that overall experience that students have while included approximately 1,000 residential beds. enrolled at American University. All residents are During the community dialogue process, residents required to sign a Housing and Residence Life

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 53 license agreement, which, along with the Student building is set back approximately 45 feet from Conduct Code, sets expectations and guidelines 44th Street in the rear. for appropriate student behavior. Each residential The Ft. Gaines community is located imme- building will include approximately 24 Residential diately to the east of the Nebraska Hall property. Life staff who will enforce these guidelines. This community, which includes homes on 44th, For all of these reasons, the proposed 770 Sedgwick, and Sunnyvale streets, consists primar- residential beds and the faculty and staff who ily of single family homes. The Temple Baptist will work and live on the East Campus will not Church is located immediately to the north of the adversely impact adjacent properties, including the Nebraska Hall property on the same side (the west- residents of the Westover Place community who ern side) of Nebraska Avenue. The Department live closest to the property line with the university. of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Nebraska Avenue complex is located on the eastern side of Nebraska (d) No Adverse Impacts Related to Other Hall, directly across from the property. The Objectionable Conditions Will Occur as a television studios and offices of NBC 4 are located Result of the East Campus Development to the north of the DHS facility and the National To help ensure that the proposed development Presbyterian School and Church is located further of the East Campus does not create any objection- to the north along Nebraska Avenue. able impacts during the construction of the East Campus, the university will work with all impacted 9.2.2 Functional, Sensitive, and stakeholders to create a construction management Appropriate Design plan. (a) Development Goals and Community 9.1.5 Certification of FAR Dialogue Process In conjunction with this request for further The proposed addition to Nebraska Hall processing and pursuant to 11 DCMR §210.8, the (the “Addition”) is designed to mesh seamlessly university certifies that the addition of approxi- with the existing Nebraska Hall. The residential mately 329,000 square feet of FAR associated with facilities provided in the Addition are designed to the development of the East Campus will result in be the university’s premium housing, primarily for the entire campus having a FAR of approximately juniors and seniors. The proposed Addition will 0.8, which is within the approved FAR for the allow the university to achieve its goals of enhanc- campus as a whole under both the existing and ing the undergraduate student housing experience proposed campus plans. at AU, with minimal impacts on neighboring residences. 9.2 NEBRASKA HALL ADDITION Representatives of the university have met a number of times with representatives of the Ft. 9.2.1 Description of Nebraska Hall Gaines community (including residents of the Property and Surrounding Area adjacent 44th and Sedgwick Streets, NW) in order The Nebraska Hall property is located to the to review the proposed plans for the Nebraska northwest of Ward Circle, north of the Katzen Arts Hall Addition and create conditions related to Center, and has frontage along Nebraska Avenue. the construction and operation of the expanded The existing Nebraska Hall residential building Nebraska Hall. includes approximately 115 beds and is three stories tall (as viewed from Nebraska Hall). The (b) Detailed Description of the Nebraska Hall grade of the property changes such that there is a Addition partial below-grade floor on the back of the existing As depicted in the materials included in building that is not visible from Nebraska Avenue. Exhibit 19, the Addition will be constructed on The existing Nebraska Hall residential building the north end of the existing Nebraska Hall build- is setback approximately 104 feet from Nebraska ing on the site of the existing surface parking lot. Avenue and includes a driveway and circular The Addition will provide beds for 120 students, drop-off area in front of the existing building. The with a kitchen in each residential unit (which existing site includes a surface parking lot with includes 3 or 4 beds). The appearance and scale of approximately 25 parking spaces. The existing the Addition has been carefully designed to relate

54 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN to the existing Nebraska Hall building and miti- 9.2.3 Noise, Traffic and Parking, gate any impact on nearby residential properties. Number of Students/Faculty/Staff, The Addition will maintain a significant setback Other Objectionable Conditions from Nebraska Avenue, approximately 97 feet, in keeping with the setback of the existing build- (a) No Adverse Impacts Related to Noise ing. (Please note that the National Park Service Will Occur as a Result of the Nebraska Hall owns a 40 foot strip of property along Nebraska Addition Avenue generally in front of Nebraska Hall and All student access to the Addition will be made the Addition. The university has an agreement from the Nebraska Avenue frontage of the build- with the Park Service that allows access across the ing. No ingress or egress to the proposed multi- Park Service property and allows the university to function space in the Addition will be able to be maintain the grass on that property.) The window accessed from the rear of the building adjacent to patterns and brick color of the proposed Addition 44th Street. The existing landscape buffer and fence will appropriately relate to the existing windows in the rear of the property will be maintained and and brick color found on Nebraska Hall. The extended for the length of the expanded Nebraska height of the proposed addition will be the same Hall building. as the height of the existing building. There will be no rooftop mechanical equipment or antennas (b) No Adverse Impacts Related to Traffic and located on the roof of the Addition. Parking Will Occur as a Result of the Nebraska All of the mechanical equipment necessary for Hall Addition the Addition will be located in the “grade level” The proposed addition to Nebraska Hall will of the building, which is actually below-grade as create no adverse traffic or parking impacts on adja- viewed from Nebraska Avenue. This mechanical cent properties. Vehicular access to Nebraska Hall equipment includes the elevator machine room will not change as a result of the construction of the and an emergency generator which is currently proposed Addition. Vehicles dropping off residents located in an accessory structure on the portion of or guests will continue to use the existing curb cut the Nebraska Hall property that will include the and entrance drive from Nebraska Avenue. The Addition. On the first level of the Addition, the removal of the 25 parking spaces on the existing level which is at-grade as the building is entered Nebraska Hall property will not result in any ap- from Nebraska Avenue, a new multifunction space preciable changes to traffic flow in the surrounding will be provided. This space will accommodate transportation system. Those people who currently a maximum of approximately 40 people and is park on the Nebraska Hall property will be able intended to serve the residents of Nebraska Hall. to park in the garage of the adjacent Katzen Arts The Ft. Gaines Citizens Association has requested Center, which has sufficient capacity to accept those that it be allowed to hold its meetings in this 25 parking spaces. Deliveries to Nebraska Hall space. The university has agreed to this request and will continue to come from the Nebraska Avenue will include such a requirement as a condition of entrance with deliveries made through the main approval of the Addition. Other uses on the first entry of the building or the central entry along the floor will include offices for the residential life staff, east face of the building. residential units for students and residential advi- sors, and a faculty apartment. The second and third (c) No Adverse Impacts Related to the Number floors of the Addition will include the majority of of Students/Faculty/or Staff Will Occur as a the beds and residential units. Result of the Nebraska Hall Addition The proposed addition to Nebraska Hall will The proposed Addition will not create any maintain the approximate 45 foot setback of the adverse impacts related to the 120 new residential existing Nebraska Hall from the rear property line, beds that will be located in the building or as adjacent to 44th Street, NW. Extensive landscap- a result of the students, faculty, and staff who ing and trees will buffer the building from the will work in the expanded Nebraska Hall. The residential areas to the west of the building. Photo university has operated a 115-room residence hall simulations of the Addition and the relationship to on this property since 2006/2007. During that the adjacent properties are included in Exhibit 19. time there have been very few, if any, complaints

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE, BUILDING COMMUNITY | 55 from residents of the adjacent single family home be installed along the western perimeter to neighborhood regarding the residence hall use on screen views of the building from neighbor- the property. The university believes that it has ing residences, the design of which will be established an excellent working relationship with determined by future discussions with the the Ft. Gaines community and will continue to do Ft. Gaines Citizens’ Association. so in the future. The location of the Addition, on 4. The building will contain a multipurpose an existing surface parking lot, and the retention room with capacity for a 35-person of the sizable landscaped buffer area between the meeting. This room may be scheduled by expanded Nebraska Hall and the adjacent residen- the Ft. Gaines Citizen’s Association for tial properties will help ensure that the additional their meetings. students on the Nebraska Hall property will not 5. The university will minimize the impact adversely impact the adjacent residential properties. of construction activity on neighboring properties by: (d) No Adverse Impacts Related to Other • appointing a university staff liaison to Objectionable Conditions Will Occur as a address concerns and answer questions Result of the Nebraska Hall Addition regarding construction activity In consultation with representatives of the Ft. • establishing a 24-hour construction Gaines community and residents of the adjacent contractor telephone contact for report- residential neighborhood, the university proposes ing problems and establishing a process the following conditions of approval for the for timely response proposed Addition. • conducting preconstruction inspections 1. The Housing and Residence Life license (including a photographic record) of agreement and Student Conduct Code set nearby properties to establish a baseline expectations for appropriate student behav- for assessing potential construction-re- ior and will be enforced by AU staff. For the lated damage and establishing a process first month after opening, the university’s for expeditiously and fairly handling Public Safety officers will perform special damage claims patrols along 44th Street, to determine and • holding a preconstruction community impact student behavior patterns. Future meeting to coordinate planned construc- patrols will be scheduled as needed by tion activities at least 90 days before ongoing observations and discussions with construction to include construction the Ft. Gaines Citizens’ Association. managers 2. The Addition will be sited as shown in • limiting construction work to Monday Exhibit 19 and will be set back from the through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; rear (west) property line approximately 45 however, interior work not creating an feet. The existing driveway will remain and impact on neighboring residences may be used for drop-off and service access. No take place outside these hours resident parking will be provided on this • prohibiting construction traffic and site. The height of the Addition will be construction worker parking on the aligned with the height of the existing third nearby residential streets floor of Nebraska Hall. There will be no rooftop mechanical equipment or antennas/ 9.2.4 Certification of FAR dishes on the Addition. In conjunction with this request for further 3. The existing fencing will be extended processing and pursuant to 11 DCMR §210.8, along the north property line bordering the the university certifies that the additional 56,000 Temple Baptist Church until it reaches the square feet of FAR associated with the addition to east property line along Nebraska Avenue. Nebraska Hall will result in the entire campus hav- The existing fence and additional fencing ing a FAR of approximately 0.8, which is within will be seven feet high. A landscape buffer the approved FAR for the campus as a whole under of evergreen and deciduous plantings will both the existing and proposed campus plans.

56 | AMERICAN UNIVERSITY 2011 CAMPUS PLAN 9.3 ADDITION TO THE MARY (b) No Adverse Impacts Related to Traffic and GRAYDON CENTER Parking Will Occur as a Result of the Addition to the Mary Graydon Center 9.3.1 Description of the Mary Graydon The proposed addition will not affect neighbor- Center and the Proposed Addition hood traffic or available parking. The Mary Graydon Center is the student center for AU, providing activity space, dining (c) No Adverse Impacts Related to the Number facilities, and retail services. It is located in the of Students/Faculty/or Staff Will Occur as a heart of the main campus and is primarily bordered Result of the Addition to the Mary Graydon by academic, administrative, and athletic facilities. Center The Mary Graydon Center is not adjacent to any The proposed addition will not add any non-university properties. The university will add students, faculty, or staff. 20,000 square feet at the south end of the existing Mary Graydon Center. This addition will provide (d) No Adverse Impacts Related to Other additional office and support space, enhanced Objectionable Conditions Will Occur as a dining facilities, and additional meeting and event Result of the Addition to the Mary Graydon space. The addition will include a terrace level Center. and three levels above. Plans for the addition are As noted above, the proposed addition is included in Exhibit 20. squarely in the center of campus and is for en- hanced dining facilities and additional activity/ 9.3.2 Noise, Traffic and Parking, meeting space. It will not add traffic, parking, Number of Students/Faculty/Staff, or students. No adverse impacts or objectionable Other Objectionable Conditions conditions will result from its construction.

(a) No Adverse Impacts Related to Noise Will 9.3.3 Certification of FAR Occur as a Result of the Addition to the Mary In conjunction with this request for further Graydon Center processing and pursuant to 11 DCMR §210.8, the The proposed addition will house enhanced university certifies that the proposed construction dining facilities and recreation facilities, as well as of approximately 20,000 square feet of FAR associ- office and additional office and support space, and ated with the addition to the Mary Graydon Center is entirely internal to the main campus. Therefore, will result in the entire campus having a FAR of the community will not experience any noise approximately 0.8, which is within the approved impacts from this addition. FAR for the campus as a whole under both the existing and proposed campus plans.

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