After three years of planning and design, UVM’s new STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) complex, first proposed by UVM president Tom Sullivan in his 2012 Strategic Action Plan, finally got off the drawing board at last week’s Board of Trustees meeting. Trustees gave the go ahead to the $104 million project, the largest in the university’s history. 

The board approved a $78 million bond resolution for the project, with the rest of the funds to be raised privately over time. To enable the STEM complex to remain on schedule, the board also authorized UVM to use unencumbered reserve funds, which will be repaid as the fund-raising campaign gains momentum, to cover the $26 million in privately raised funds the project will require.    

The STEM complex will be built in phases, with groundbreaking scheduled for this summer. Phase I, consisting of a research and teaching lab located roughly where Angel Hall is now, will be completed in December 2016. Phase II, a classroom and office building located roughly in the space occupied by Cook Physical Science, will be completed in June 2018. The renovation of Votey Hall will occur throughout the construction and will be finished in June 2018. 

With the additional bonded funds, the university’s debt ratio would rise to 5.04 percent, well within the 5.75 percent upper limit set by board policy.

In other important developments, the board authorized the university to use privately raised funds to complete the design for the renovation of the Billings Library and to launch a major renovation of the Miller Research Farm Complex, beginning with the construction of new instructional and research barns.

It also authorized monies to begin the deconstruction of the Chittenden Buckham Wills residential complex to make way for a new in-patient building at the University of Vermont Medical Center and, eventually, a privately developed residence hall complex near the CBW footprint. 

Learn more about the STEM complex, and see more renderings.

 In the committee meetings:

Educational Policy & Institutional Resources

• The committee approved a new minor in music theater in the College of Arts and Sciences, a collaboration between two departments, Music and Dance, and Theatre. “This is a great opportunity to combine the strengths of two departments for preparing students to participate in this delightful art form,” said Cathy Paris, chair of the Faculty Senate’s Curricular Affairs committee, in her presentation to EPIR members. Paris said her committee expected the minor to be popular.
• The committee heard an update from vice president Tom Gustafson on deferred maintenance at the university. Gustafson said that, while the university is continuing to devote resources annually to deferred maintenance and has slowed the growth of the problem, it is nevertheless still growing. Curbing the issue to some degree, Gustafson said, is the planned deconstruction of the aging Chittenden/Buckham/Wills residence hall; the demolition of Cook Physical Science; and the renovation of Votey Hall. But these gains are offset, Gustafson said, by inflation and the aging of other projects. The problem is one faced by colleges campuses across the country, Gustafson said. “It’s a very challenging situation.”
• Curricular Affairs chair Paris also previewed a new undergraduate degree in health science, approved by the Curricular Affairs Committee but not yet presented to the Faculty Senate for appoval. The innovative degree would be the first at UVM to be offered almost entirely online. The new major, targeted to students who have taken some college courses but don’t yet have an undergraduate degree, is geared to students who want to shape health policy, serve on public health boards or pursue a graduate degree in health. 
• The committee also heard from Rubenstein School professor Dean Wang on a proposal to add a third general education requirement to the university’s ongoing gen ed initiative: sustainability. UVM currently has gen ed requirements in diversity and in writing and information literacy.
• Provost David Rosowsky gave trustees an update on UVM’s efforts to define and market a unique brand. The university is in the process of hiring an external consultant to conduct a branding study. 

Budget, Finance & Investment

• The committee voted unanimously to increase the room and meal plan rates by no more than 3.4 percent for the FY 2016 budget, to be finalized at the May meeting. This represents a three percent increase to the primary choice meal plan and a 3.7 percent increase to the traditional double room rate. The maximum proposed comprehensive student fee and other student fees (Student Government Association Fee and the Inter Residence Association Fee) were set at a maximum increase of three percent. Student fees fund the Center for Health and Wellbeing, Athletic Center, Library, Davis Student Center, Campus Transportation System, Student Technology Services, Academic Support Programs, the UVM Career Center and clean energy efforts.
• The committee voted unanimously to create the President’s Strategic Initiative Fund to allow for the accumulation of resources from one-time sources that are not part of the university’s annual operating budget. The purpose of the fund will be to deploy and invest in opportunities to support the University’s Strategic Action Plan.
• The Investment Subcommittee reported that as of Dec. 21, 2014, the value of the university’s endowment had grown approximately $36 million over the past year to an all-time high of $436 million.
• The committee voted unanimously to approve Dual Enrollment Voucher Program rates for the statewide program that allows Vermont high school students to access two college courses free of charge. The administration asked the committee to establish a variable tuition rate equal to the value of the voucher presented by each student for each course to be reimbursed. Currently, the prevailing reimbursement rate from the state is lower than undergraduate tuition.

The consent agenda of all approved resolutions for the February board meeting is available here: http://www.uvm.edu/trustees/?Page=standing_com/full_board/content.html&SM=submenu1.html