Alan Fish was appointed to be the University's first Vice President of Real Estate and Campus Services in January. His position includes overseeing the entirety of the University's real estate operations. Fish will also coordinate the schools and divisions that exist on the Homewood Campus.
"The main goal that was set up by senior leadership when the University formed this position is to look at how all the schools and colleges that collectively make up the University can collaborate in planning their capital projects and managing all of their real estate assets in a way that is both cost effective but functional for the research and teaching that they do," Fish said.
Fish was the Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the past nine years and had worked at the school since 1989. During his time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he planned a 2.5 billion dollar project to fund research and student life improvement buildings. He intends to continue this trend of planning new buildings at Hopkins.
"Trying to catch up and keep modern and functional facilities so that the faculty and the researchers that are here in the Hopkins world are really why we exist, so we're here to try to set things up so students have a great place to live, for teachers to have a great place to do education, and [so] the amazing research enterprise that we have here at Hopkins can continue to sustain itself," Fish said.
To start off, Fish plans to do a study this spring to determine what direction he should take to improve the student experience at Hopkins. This includes discussing the future of on-campus student housing and a possible student center on the Homewood campus or in Charles Village itself. He also plans to look into what to do with the Olmstead Lot.
"This will give us some direction on how we can really improve the undergraduate experience both on how you live and where social opportunities are in the future," Fish said. "We'll be putting together the capital plan for the next year this spring, and we'll be looking five years out so we'll probably have some significant updates to review later this spring."
Fish also plans on creating a survey for students, faculty and staff that would examine the community's interactions with the Homewood campus. The survey would include a map that would mark where students go to class, study, socialize and where they feel safe.
"We're really hoping that we can get a broad participation so that as we begin planning the next moves for the Homewood Campus we have some really in-depth input from the students who use it every day," Fish said.
Some students felt that Fish should consider a student union among his priorities and as a possible use for the Olmstead lot.
"I would love a student union," senior Sruthi Sakamuri said.
"Other campuses have a central place where all the students can go," freshman Jillian Tse said.
Along with the new projects that Fish is hoping to implement, his office is also working on ongoing projects, such as the undergraduate teaching lab and the Brody Learning Commons. He will also be working closely with the reconstruction of Charles Street, which will start this spring. The construction will occur from 25th street to University Parkway. The campus staff will work with Baltimore City to ensure Charles Street is safer and more accessible to pedestrians.
"We'll also be incorporating more street trees [and] trying to incorporate an art block in there as well," Fish said. "When this project is over, [we hope that] Charles Street becomes more of a socially interactive place instead of just a place for cars."
Although Fish will miss working at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he is excited to start planning new buildings and initiatives at Hopkins.
"This is really a tremendous opportunity," he said. "It's an amazing teaching and research university, and the opportunity to come here and join the Hopkins team was just too good to miss."
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