In spite of a tough economic climate, universities such as MSU have pressed on with construction ­— with some schools even upping the ante — according to research presented last week at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.

According to research by co-authors Jennifer Delaney and William Doyle, higher education institutions tend to spend more money on college construction when state appropriations to their institutions are highest — and when they’re lowest. Construction spending dipped when state appropriations were stable from year to year, according to Delaney and Doyle’s research.

It’s a trend that MSU, too, has followed, according to recent university budget reports.

Although these results initially might seem strange, Delaney, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said there are numerous potential reasons for the numbers, including decisions at the state level and the nature of the construction business. Delaney said projects often are initiated during times of economic prosperity and are concluded as the economy is struggling.

“In good economic times there are more appropriations for higher education,” Delaney said. “But in tough economic times, funding for higher education is cut first and cut more than other state budget areas. It kind of makes sense because higher education is the only fund receiver that can raise its own revenue. The state doesn’t charge for a K-12 education or make prisoners pay for rent.”

The relationship between MSU and the state government only has been highlighted with the transition to a new administration, with communication between the two institutions becoming increasingly important throughout the past few months.

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon addressed a joint session of MSU’s Academic and Faculty councils last week about this conversation, reminding the councils that higher education spending is discretionary when it comes to budget concerns.

“One of the issues will be how we demonstrate the value of funds invested in any aspect of government, which will include the university,” Simon said. “I do think Michigan State has a pretty strong story in that regard. We can use our team approach to have that story be told in a very positive way.”

Crumbling support beams

Although Delaney said construction spending is increasing in some cases as a result of a state push to create jobs, university administrators said Michigan is a unique case.

University engineer Bob Nestle said state funding for construction projects on campuses throughout Michigan long since has run dry.

“The fact is that the state of Michigan in recent years has not financed much on this campus or any in the state of Michigan,” Nestle said. “In recent years, that source of revenue really hasn’t been there. It’s a nice idea (for the state to try to create jobs) but the state doesn’t have any money.”

University officials submit a capital outlay request to the state every year detailing construction projects they would like monetary support for on campus. But in recent years, capital outlays have been all but a thing of the past, said Fred Poston, MSU vice president for finance and operations.

“We haven’t had any capital outlay money in quite a while,” Poston said. “It’s much different than it was 40 years ago. I got here 20 years ago and the state was still giving us buildings and paying 100 percent of the cost. They knocked that down to 75 percent of the cost and in recent years we haven’t seen anything.”

Poston said lack of state funding has postponed some campus projects, especially in Student Services and the Natural Science Building. University officials have submitted capital outlay requests for the projects, but the money isn’t available.

“They’re buildings that are serviceable but need the utilities to be reworked,” Poston said.

Construction crossroads

With a decrease in state appropriations for necessary construction, university officials have had to use resources carefully, Nestle said.

Projects such as the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum are funded through donations, while projects such as the Bott Building Life Science Addition are funded primarily through federal grants, he said. Housing additions, such as the new Brody Square, are funded through Campus Living Services.

Although spending tuition dollars on construction projects is something administrators have avoided for the most part, cuts in state funding and the pressing state of some buildings have forced them to dip conservatively into these funds throughout the past few years, Poston said.

Projects such as demolishing Morrill Hall, building its replacement in the Wells Hall addition and building the Plant and Soil Sciences Building are university funded, partially with tuition dollars. These kinds of projects are the type that usually can’t wait, he said.

“We’ve been tight-fisted in terms of putting general funds into our buildings, but we’ve had to do some of that recently, but we’ve done it very judiciously,” Poston said. “We haven’t built things that we didn’t need and haven’t used. We needed everything we built, so we are where we are.”

Although construction is a hassle when Saylor Henney’s parents come to pick her up from school, the Residential College in Arts and Humanities sophomore said she thinks construction spending is necessary to some degree.
“You have to upkeep your buildings and upkeep your streets in order to maintain a facility that people are going to want to attend,” Henney said.

Nestle remains hopeful.

“One of these days, the state’s economy is going to turn around sooner or later and there will be some funds for capital outlay projects,” he said. “We want to make sure (legislators) know that we have a lot of needs and we’re willing to help spend the money when it’s available.”

Staff reporter Kyle Campbell contributed to this report.