The State Board of Higher Education has turned down a proposal by the University of North Dakota to go to the North Dakota Building Authority and seek bonding for deferred maintenance.
When it was first proposed, UND was going to ask for the authority to bond between $80 million and $135 million, with the money focused on core campus buildings. UND scaled back the request to $80 million. The money would go toward buildings identified as the University's "academic core."
"We think that, by improving the academic core, we can increase the enrollment and retention of students, faculty and staff," UND vice president for finance and operations Jed Shivers told the Board's Budget and Finance Committee. "We think there will be an additional benefit of stimulating the local economy related to trade."
Shivers said there would also be options for other donor participation through creating matched funds.
Shivers said the bonds would be paid for through "natural" tuition increases, as well as the University budgeting for payments are part of its normal operating budget.
"We're in this state because we haven't allocated enough for extraordinary repairs," said UND President Mark Kennedy. "Or we haven't priced tuition enough to be able to invest $20 million a year in keeping deferred maintenance from getting bigger."
Board members commended UND for “thinking outside the box” when it made this bonding proposal.
When it was first proposed, earlier this month, the Committee asked Chancellor Mark Hagerott to make a recommendation.
"It's an innovative idea and something new," Hagerott said. "But given the amount of time we've had, we don't recommend pushing ahead yet."
Board members said the issue of deferred maintenance is a huge issue system-wide.
"This should be an ongoing discussion that we continue to have," said Board member Nick Hacker. "The problem is not going away."
