Chancellor Phillip DiStefano advocated for the modernization of CU Boulder’s historic buildings on Wednesday, Dec. 18, before the state legislature’s Capital Development Committee, highlighting the impactful role state funding could play in ensuring these spaces remain hubs of student success and research excellence for decades to come.
DiStefano zeroed in specifically on two buildings—Hellems Arts & Sciences and Guggenheim Geography. Both have broad impact and have long been viewed as great opportunities to partner with the state on major renovations similar to the modernization of the Ketchum Arts & Sciences building earlier this decade. And both have recently moved to the top of the CU System’s prioritization list, with Hellems now listed as the system’s top priority for receipt of state funds and Guggenheim listed fourth.
The state has very limited funds available to support maintenance and construction each year. While campus has funded recent new construction with a combination of campus cash, philanthropy and other innovative partnerships, CU Boulder has focused its requests for state funding on major renovations as a way to maximize the value of such investments by the state.
“The focus of our state request, which is the same as last year, is to take care of the buildings we have,” DiStefano said. “As we maintain our historic buildings, we must also modernize the spaces to meet current education and sustainability standards.”
DiStefano’s presentation comes at a particularly important point in the state’s Fiscal Year 2020-21 budgeting process. Gov. Jared Polis’s initial budget request earlier this year did not include funding for the Hellems or Guggenheim projects. The Capital Development Committee (CDC), however, is a statutory committee composed of a mix of state senators and representatives that plays an important role in the budgeting process. The CDC reviews funding requests for capital construction projects from all state agencies, and makes prioritized recommendations to the Joint Budget Committee. Construction requests seeking state funds are ranked by the CDC each year to help determine which receive funding from the legislature when the budget bill comes out each spring.
DiStefano’s presentation Wednesday highlighted the value CU Boulder is providing to the state in addressing access and affordability to students, positively impacting the economy and taking a leading role in sustainability. Highlights included:
- CU Boulder’s Fall 2019 freshman class was the university’s most diverse in school history.
- Improved graduation rates.
- A concerted effort to increase investment in Colorado resident students, who now graduate with $1,100 less in student debt than the Colorado average.
- The Boulder campus generates $3.85 billion annually to the state’s economy.
- The university’s legacy of sustainability is being carried forward in construction and renovations, with 11 buildings on campus now certified LEED Platinum.
DiStefano pointed out that modernizing CU Boulder’s historic buildings will be crucial to the continued success of such efforts. The deferred maintenance backlog for campus general fund buildings has reached $558 million. The state has contributed $22 million toward that backlog over the past five years, while CU Boulder has contributed $77 million toward these efforts during that period.
The chancellor laid out an approach by which the campus is increasing utilization of the buildings already on campus to minimize the amount of new construction that is needed. As the campus addresses deferred maintenance to major systems in aging buildings, such projects are coupled with renovations that modernize and enhance teaching and research environments for 21st-century learners.
For Hellems, the university is proposing a four-phased project totalling $83.5 million. The project would include $33.4 million in crucial facilities improvements from the state and $50.1 million in academic space improvements funded by the university. For Guggenheim, CU Boulder is proposing a $27.7 million project that includes an $11.1 million request for state funds, with $16.6 million committed by the university.
The university will know which projects receive state funding by late spring.
