UMass Plan Calls For More Capital Investment; State Support
After spending more than $2.4 billion on campus improvements over the past decade, the University of Massachusetts plans to invest $3.1 billion more over the next five years on new construction and other upgrades across its five campuses, under a proposal that received approval from a UMass board of trustees subcommittee Wednesday.
University officials said the plan helps meet demands posed by a larger student body, with nearly 71,000 students enrolled system wide this fall compared to just under 58,000 ten years ago.
According to UMass, most of the 249 capital projects in the five-year plan are already underway and include new life sciences labs, an integrated sciences complex in Boston, a new academic building in Dartmouth, completion of an emerging technologies and innovation center in Lowell, and completion of the Sherman Center in Worcester.
Officials anticipate 28 percent of the funding for the five-year plan will come from state government, which has averaged 15-percent support for UMass capital improvements over the last decade. Sixty-six percent of funds for the capital projects will come from university sources and borrowing, with 6 percent from fundraising and grants.
The plan includes $43.3 million in new projects, such as maintenance on the Whitmore building in Amherst and replacement of a steam chiller at the medical school in Worcester. The full UMass Board will vote on the plan when it meets Wednesday.
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