The campus is circulating a 10-year blueprint of physical growth to accommodate an influx of students and employees and meet its research needs in the years ahead.
During the next two months, deans and vice chancellors will be asked for their feedback on a draft long-term plan for capital growth and funding strategies. Administra-tors describe the plan as an "evolving" document that will be distributed annually for campus input.
One project includes the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, due to open in 2006. The plan also calls for a new neuroscience center, a hotel and conference center, greenhouse complex, sciences laboratory facilities, an expanded law school, and improved veterinary medicine facilities. More than 100 projects are described in the plan.
In the past year, the campus finished construction on many projects, including the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, the Plant and Environ-mental Sciences Building, Briggs Hall renovations, a contained research facility for plant and pest diseases, and various facilities for the School of Veterinary Medicine that are considered vital to that school’s re-accreditation efforts.
Thanks to California voters, the university has a piece of the budget puzzle figured out. In November 2002, voters statewide approved a K-12 bond that will help fund school and university building projects such as those at UC Davis.
"That was a critical vote of support and will help us meet some of our physical and academic growth goals," said John Meyer, vice chancellor for resource management and planning.
Starting this week, Meyer’s office began meeting individually with deans and vice chancellors. Meetings will occur through the end of February to gather comments on the plan.
Tidal Wave II
UC Davis seeks to develop facilities and the requisite funding to handle an increase of students, faculty and staff brought about by Tidal Wave II, which is expected to bring an additional 4,000 students to UC Davis by 2015. The plan focuses on new buildings, renovations to others and infrastructure upgrades.
Most universities plan five years ahead. UC Davis’ 10-year plan is unique in the UC system, according to Meyer, who developed a similar plan for the city of Davis when he served as its city manager.
"We need to meet the growth challenges in terms of the campus population and at the same time develop the caliber of facilities to support our research activities," Meyer said.
"By looking at the big picture now, we can plan ahead for funding this construction, servicing the facilities and determining how they fit into our Long-Range Development Plan, how to service these facilities and where best to locate them."
Funding Mix
Through 2012, the campus expects to spend more than $1.7 billion on construction costs. So far, UC Davis needs $393 million to close the gap in funding.
Funding such capital projects is much different today than 10 or 15 years ago. Then, the campus could rely on measures like state capital bonds to pass.
Still, only one-third of the university’s capital budget comes from the state. For the 2002-2012 plan, the campus will also use federal money, campus funds and loans, research grants, gifts and student fees.
The 10-year-plan represents the campus’s efforts to consider its future in a comprehensive manner, said Rick Keller, assistant vice chancellor for capital resource management.
"Building these projects in isolation and on a short-term outlook obscures the larger purposes they serve to the campus population, from researchers to students," Keller noted. "This type of planning helps everyone understand what is being proposed, what benefits are provided, and what funding is necessary."
By gathering feedback, Keller said the university is asking, "Do we have this right? Do these projects reflect the future as we envision it?"
For more information, visit the Office of Resource Management and Planning Web site at http://www.ormp.ucdavis.edu/.