Project Planning Overview

Capital Project Roles

The Office of the University Architect manages all campus planning, construction projects and architectural and engineering design activities. This applies to all capital and non-capital projects. Capital project oversight is delegated by the Board of Visitors (BOV) to the President and EVPFA, with regular updates at the Board’s Committee on Administration, Building and Grounds and president’s advisory Design Review Board (DRB).

• A project's Executive Sponsor (ES, Cabinet level) is accountable for all the activities that take place in a W&M building and for delivering on the university’s strategic goals.
• The ES assigns an Internal Client Representative (ICR) responsible for defining program and serving as the ES rep through the life of the project.
• The Office of the University Architect (OUA) is accountable for successful project planning, management and execution.
• OUA delegates these functions to appropriate Project Managers (PMs), consultants and other relevant parties.
• OUA convenes an ad hoc Building Committee for ICR/PR consultation and to receive updates.
• Advancement is responsible for fundraising. ICRs work with Advancement Leads to collect donor feedback on program and design concepts during the concept phase.
• PM and ICR work together to convene User Focus Groups to contribute insights and “user stories” that define the program and guide design. Programmatic requirements are documented and updated in each project's Program of Record (POR) documentation.