[ Master Plan ]

The Need for a New Campus Plan

The need for new thinking about the institution’s physical requirements at Elmhurst has been especially intense since the mid-1990s, when the College began a sustained period of purposeful investment in institutional quality. It began to add faculty, expand enrollment, and raise admission standards. In 1997, it unveiled a new master plan for campus development. The plan has been carefully implemented, and the result is a better equipped and more attractive campus.

At the same time, the College’s academic reputation has grown measurably. Today Elmhurst is attracting students who are much better prepared academically than their counterparts were 15 or 20 years ago. Today’s students also are more likely to enroll full time, to live on campus, and to engage avidly in campus activities.

In short, over a brief period, the academic profile of Elmhurst College has changed dramatically. Moreover, the institutional leadership is committed to advancing the progress of recent years. The trustees and administration have chosen to seek and invest substantial resources in an ambitious effort to claim a position of true distinction among the small colleges in the Chicago area. Over the next few years, the College intends to grow modestly in size and convincingly in reputation and quality, and to achieve an even higher level of service to students and society.

The institutional leadership recognizes that the College’s aspirations must be supported by a more fully equipped and realized campus. Thus the leadership decided in 2005 to undertake a rigorous process to reassess and update the campus plan. The 2007 Master Plan is the result.