Years down the road, Wichita State University will be a drastically different place. WSU President John Bardo addressed students and faculty Monday to discuss many topics about that road of change for a university whose landscape has already seen plenty of adjustments.

The topics also ranged in how soon the changes will be realized. The president addressed possible enrollment numbers for the 2014-15 year and more distant plans that will take years to accomplish.

 One of these changes is the “innovation campus,” a group of four buildings that will create “private-public partnerships” and provide research opportunities with Wichita businesses.

The buildings will be located near where Wheatshocker Apartment stands today on 17th Street, just west of Oliver Street. Bardo said he hopes to begin tearing down the apartments as early as mid-August, depending on the construction timeline of Shocker Hall.

The four “innovation” buildings are simply called Tech 1, Tech 2, Tech 3 and Tech 4. A fifth building will be the future home for the Barton School of Business.

A new entrance will also be built on 17th Street to provide easy access to the new buildings and put more traffic on 17th Street.

Bardo said this is because private businesses use traffic counts to help decide where to build new businesses. He said he hopes more traffic will stimulate private development of businesses on 17th Street.

“For those of you who went to school away from here, you know how important [businesses around the university] can be for the social life of the university and for the creative life of the university as well,” he said.

Bardo said the estimated enrollment for 2014-2015 would increase by 600 to 1,000 students, about a 5 percent increase to almost 16,000 students.

Bardo said that construction is tentatively set to begin in May 2016 with Tech 2 and Tech 3. He said these would house functional laboratory spaces.

Finally, the president addressed what he called the “final frontier” of parking.

“You think it’s space,” he said. “Oh no, it’s parking.”

Bardo said the university is studying the parking issue and is considering moving to a fee system to help manage future construction costs.

Fees would have a tier system with the cheapest option in the lots at the Metropolitan Complex at 29th Street and Oliver Street, he said. Because of this, Bardo foresees more students using the shuttle system in the future.

“If you look at most metropolitan campuses, that’s the way it’s been for decades,” Bardo said. “It’s just new here.”

Bardo did not let the here and now escape anyone’s attention either.

 “What rank is Wichita State’s men’s basketball program?” he asked the crowd of faculty, students and media.

“Two,” they answered.

“And how many games have they lost?”

“None.”