The Kansas Board of Regents is expected to vote Thursday on a 10-year development master plan for the Kansas University Edwards Campus in Overland Park.
The plan proposes a $70-million expansion over the next decade or longer, adding 200,000 square feet in building space and additional parking for 2,000 cars.
"I think it's very important for us to lay out the way the campus will be developed in a 10- to 15-year plan," said KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway.
"It will give a sense of the University of Kansas commitment to the greater Kansas City area," said Bob Clark, dean of Edwards Campus.
The Edwards Campus is on 36 acres at 127th Street and Quivira Road in Overland Park. It currently has one 55,000-square-foot building. But the Legislature has authorized the raising of $13.2 million in private funds for a second building.
Regents' approval of the master plan is but an early step in the proposed expansion, which would still need funding commitments from government and private sources, if it is to actually happen.
Hemenway has said one of his goals to have KU recognized as the dominant research university of the greater Kansas City area.
"It's understood the graduate degrees offered at the Edwards campus are the same as those offered at the Lawrence campus, but to a different clientele," Hemenway said.
The Johnson County students, he said, are seeking graduate degrees and are commuters.
In the past seven years, the number of graduate programs offered on the Edwards campus have grown from seven to 17.
-- Erwin Seba's phone message number is 832-7145. His e-mail address is eseba@ljworld.com.
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