For Immediate Release
Contact:
Matthew Cookson, USNH: 603-862-0904
Matt.cookson@usnh.edu
University System of New Hampshire Board Approves Long-term Strategy to Address Campus Facilities Upkeep and Improvements
April 18, 2008 – Durham, NH – The University System of New Hampshire (USNH) Board of Trustees endorsed a long term strategic plan that would ensure that academic facilities used by future students, citizens, and employees will be maintained and upgraded for many years to come. The “KEEP-UP” strategy calls for committing a consistent and growing amount of state and university system resources, beginning in fiscal year 2010, to address a significant backlog of “deferred maintenance” and the renewal responsibilities that will be coming due, plus necessary improvements. The vote to approve this strategy was taken at the April 17 Board meeting, held on the University of New Hampshire campus in Durham.
The Board has had a long standing commitment to reduce deferred maintenance of USNH facilities and USNH will invest about $18M on deferred maintenance in FY09. In recent years, the Board has increased this funding by $1.35M annually and is currently spending about 10 times more per year from the operating budget than 20 years ago on academic building repair and renovations. Despite this funding increase, there is a $150M backlog of deferred maintenance and upcoming investment requirements continue to grow.
The study, conducted by VFA, a nationally recognized leader in the type of work that was selected through a competitive bid process, included an analysis of 8.3 million square feet (96% of all USNH facility space). VFA determined the USNH will need to invest $900 million towards deferred maintenance over the next 15 years. VFA also confirmed that USNH’s current rate of investment in deferred maintenance will place USNH facilities in greater need of repair than the national average of universities and colleges.
“The order of magnitude of the present problem requires a strategic and sustained approach, and we want to work in partnership with the State to make the necessary investments in these extremely important and valuable state resources,” said Ed Dupont, vice chair of the USNH Board of Trustees. “This KEEP-UP strategy is really about upkeep, and our Trustees endorsed this plan in recognition of their fiduciary responsibility to preserve these resources for future generations of students.”
The Board’s Capital Projects Subcommittee has been studying this issue for many months and developed and recommended this strategy to the Board’s Financial Affairs Committee, which endorsed it earlier this month. The KEEP-UP strategy for academic buildings recommends an annual dollar for dollar match between the State capital budget investment and support from the USNH operating budget, reaching $35M from each source by FY15. The plan would be phased in beginning in FY10 and include a $10M request for State capital budget funds in the next biennium.
To measure progress of the KEEP-UP strategy, the Board is recommending that the VFA study be replicated every five years to provide a snapshot of USNH status at those points. The buildings at USNH institutions, which include the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University, Keene State College, and Granite State College represent over half of the facility space owned by the State and have a replacement value of $2.2 billion.
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