UMW Buys Third Campus
2 min readBY SARAH FINNEY
UMW has appropriated $2 million to buy 22 acres near the Dahlgren Naval Research base in King George County to build a new educational and research facility.
University officials say the branch-which Mary Washington would operate, but which would host programs taught t by faculty from other Virginia schools-could be up and running within five years.
“The project should be completed in time to open in the fall of 2011 if funds are received from the state to build the building,” stated Acting President Rick Hurley.
The University of Mary Washington met with the Executive Planning Committee on May 31, 2007 at Dahlgren Naval Surface Welfare base in King George County to continue the planning of the new facility.
University of Mary Washington students will benefit from this project, according to Hurley. Eventually this Dahlgren campus will generate a profit that can be used to fund programs on the Fredericksburg and Stafford campuses.
Dean Meta Braymer and Rick Pearce, associate vice president for business and finance, have been assigned to serve as the co-chairs of the Dahlgren project.
“UMW will be acting as the managers of this facility; the state wanted to fund this project and build it and knew UMW was qualified to do this” said Pearce.
The school’s 22-acre property is located off of U.S. route 301, and will eventually host a 40,000 sq. foot academic building. This building would include classrooms, engineering labs, computer labs, administrative and faculty offices, server rooms, lab storage, and flex space for light research, such as computer and modeling simulation, according to Braymer.
Braymer’s report to the Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce indicates that associate, baccalaureate and graduate programs will be offered at the campus.
Various universities around Virginia and Maryland will host programs including University of Mary Washington, University of Virginia, Maryland Community Colleges, Johns Hopkins University, Naval War College, Virginia Tech, and even online courses from Penn State University.
