Each day, thousands of people come to UW-Madison to formulate new ideas that may eventually shape the world. But a smaller, behind-the-scenes group of several hundred arrives each day thinking about ways to build state-of-the-art labs, classrooms, and computer networks to support the innovation of the wider university. Their vision is revolutionary—changing not only the physical configuration of campus, but also presenting a bold new blueprint for the ways research, learning, and student life may change during the next few decades.

In terms of bricks and mortar, much of the west part of the campus will be transformed during the next decade into an interconnected "academic village" for the health sciences, designed to speed the application of research from the lab to the bedside. Like never before, technology will be woven into "smart" buildings.

Over the longer term, change will also come to the east and central areas of campus, improving the quality of student housing, updating the venerable Memorial Union, and, eventually, creating a new green-space corridor running south from campus to Regent Street. During the process, special emphasis will be placed on creating new performance and classroom spaces for the arts and humanities, with the thought that strength in those areas will help attract some of the most creative students and faculty in the world.

Technologically, members of the campus community will use a new campus network, expanded wireless capabilities, and more powerful laptops and handheld devices to communicate with each other, along with powerful teaching and learning resources.

Like most plans, this vision for the future is fluid and stretches over several decades. Budget constraints and a lack of expansion space complicate its execution. However, a central belief remains constant: To attract and support the best scholars and researchers, the university must continue to adapt and evolve.