The Campus Life Master Plan features an ambitious, $45 million prospect that is intended to transform the Wood Center into an all-inclusive, student-friendly hub. Students would be responsible for one quarter of this project cost, which will not be implemented until construction is complete.

The plan proposes to relocate the food services presently located in the Loly Tilly Commons to the Wood Center. This would combine all food services into one convenient location, eliminating the need for students to traverse up and down the hill to eat. Once inside the Wood Center, the quality of the food offered should improve, as well as the options and the manner in which the food is prepared. It will be prepared right before the students in the same way it is now done in the Wood Center. The Commons would then be turned into a one-stop registration hub where students can get all of their necessary business done in just one place.

The Wood Center would also be connected to Constitution Hall, which means the Book Store would be contained within the new complex. A new convenience store would also be set up for students to utilize. A new, separate coffee shop will also be included, and it will compliment the entire complex as a place that students will want to frequent for meals, entertainment, shopping and social interaction.

All of these proposed improvements will not come free of course, and the committee wants students to fully understand the cost and benefit value of the plan, as well as its formulation. The plan came about in 2004 as a part of a comprehensive effort to improve the conditions on campus. The consultant team of Brailsford and Dunleavy was hired to conduct a study that interviewed students, departments and various user groups through surveys and public info settings. The current CLMP is the result of their findings.

It is important for current students to know that students accepted the resulting plan and its fee when the consultants did their survey. The cost for students per semester is $160 and it is set to phase in over three years. This means that the first year after completion, which is now scheduled to be 2009, students would have to pay about $50, the second year about $100, and the third they would pay the full $160. Thereafter the fee would continue to be $160 until the twenty-year bond is paid. The remaining three-fourths of the bond will be paid by state and federal funds.

The student Campus Life Master Plan or CLMP Committee, (there is a faculty/administration committee as well), is engaged in an advertising effort to better acquaint students with the plan and its benefits. Since students will have the opportunity to vote on the proposal in April 2006, it is essential that the committee get the word out. Their promotional slogan is OC3, or "One Campus, One Community, One Center," which would make the Wood Center the place on campus to meet, greet and eat.

The CLMP committee also intends to promote the plan with presentations to student organizations, T-shirts, pamphlets, stickers, info tables and public service announcements on KUAC.

This plan follows the model followed by the Student recreational Center so students have a way to gauge the practicality of its implementation. The CLMP committee thinks of this far-reaching plan as a way for current students to leave a legacy at UAF. Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact Terin at fstaw@uaf.edu, Josiah at army_medic99@yahoo.com, or the Wood Center Director Lydia Anderson at fnlma@uaf.edu. Remember the vote is in April '06 so stay tuned and get involved.