Highlighting last week’s meeting of the university’s Board of Trustees was a capital projects presentation summarizing six major building projects that will transform the campus over the next few years and signify the university’s continued commitment to invest in quality.

“The scope and breadth of these projects reflect the investment the university is making in academic excellence and in providing a high-quality experience for our students,” said Thomas Gustafson, vice president for university relations and administration, who made the presentation with Robert Vaughan, director of capital planning. The projects included:

• The long-awaited $104 million STEM complex, which will get under way in June with the deconstruction of Angell Hall. Phase I of the project, the Discovery Building (teaching and research labs) will open in May 2017; the Innovation Building (classrooms and offices) will open in May 2019; and Votey Building will be renovated in phases throughout the life of the project;
• A new $65 million, 699-bed residence hall for first-year students, to be located near the footprint of the Chittenden-Buckham-Wills residence halls. The deconstruction of CBW will also begin in June, with the new residence hall slated to open in August 2017;
• An $11.8 million expansion of the chiller plant located on the east end of the Royall Tyler Theater. Construction of the new plant, which is needed to provide cooling for the new buildings coming online, will take place between November 2015 and November 2016;
• A $4.1 million upgrade of the Miller Research Farm on Spear Street. The project will bring two new barns to the complex: one for teaching and one for research. Construction is under way on both, which are due to be completed in mid-September. 

The presentation also included an update on a $10 million renovation of Alumni House, located on Summit Avenue neighboring Grass Mount, and an $8.5 million renovation of the Billings Library.       

Vaughan said his team has been working on logistics planning for six months and expects to “make the campus safe and accessible for the entire campus,” during the upcoming construction.              

In other news …

Committee of the Whole

• Foundation president Rich Bundy gave trustees an update on UVM’s comprehensive campaign, which will launch publicly next October during Reunion Homecoming and Family Weekend. In April, for the first time in its history, UVM raised $60 million in “trailing gifts” –- that is, gifts received in the preceding 12 months. Bundy expects the total raised for fiscal year 2015 to equal or exceed last year's record $55 million, keeping the campaign on target to reach its goal. 

Budget Finance and Investment Committee

• The board approved a 6.3 percent increase in financial aid, offsetting a 3.4 percent tuition increase, one of the lowest of the past decade, bringing in-state tuition to $14,664 and $37,056 for out-of-state students. The increase in financial aid reduces the average total cost of attendance (tuition, fees, room and board) for Vermonters from $26,120 to $16,655. For out-of-state students, the financial aid increase helped reduce the overall average cost from $47,048 to $33,057. Trustees discussed the importance of continuing to increase the university’s financial aid package, which reached an all-time high of $25.8 million in FY14 for the total amount of non-loan financial aid supporting Vermont students. That aid helps approximately 40 percent of Vermonters graduate with no debt and 46 percent of Vermonters to attend UVM tuition free. Total financial aid for all students is expected to exceed $111 million for FY15. “Even as the sticker price goes up we’re working to bring the real cost of attendance down,” said Provost David Rosowsky. “That’s the real story and the cost that matters to students and families.”
• Committee members voted to approve $11.8 million to expand the chiller plant rather than put a single, separate cooling unit on the STEM building at a cost of $10 million. The additional $1.8 million was taken out of specific development project accounts and plant net assets reserves.
• Committee members reaffirmed UVM’s divestment from companies doing business in the Sudan based on a recommendation by the Socially Responsible Investing Advisory Council and ISC. The SRIAC also reported that it has conducted research into divesting from coal and is finalizing a recommendation to be sent to Richard Cate, vice president for finance and treasurer.
• The Investment Subcommittee reported that the university’s endowment was $441 million as of March 31, 2015 with no adjustments to its asset allocations having been made since February. The first six months of FY 2015 started slowly due to a decline in international equities and natural resources, resulting in a 1.7 percent return for the period between July and December of 2015.

Educational Policy and Institutional Resources Committee

• Associate provost Brian Reed updated the committee on the university’s efforts to create a more consistent student advising system. Last year all deans created customized advising plans, tailored to the disciplines in their units, which were required to meet five common criteria. The plans are currently being reviewed by the Faculty Senate’s Student Affairs committee, Reed said.
• John Ryan, director of Institutional Research, informed committee members that UVM participated in two surveys last year: the National Survey of Student Engagement and, for the first time, the National Survey of Faculty Engagement. Ryan didn’t elaborate on the results of the lengthy studies, but said perceptions of engagement among students and faculty sometimes diverged, providing opportunities for further study.
• Provost David Rosowky updated the committee on the university’s plans to develop a marketing program integrating the university’s various communications programs. The university has hired one of the country’s leading higher education marketing firms, 160over90, Roswosky said, which will help the university create “a practical and affordable communications plan with messages that will resonate with our audiences.”
• The committee unanimously approved a number of new academic offerings, later approved by the full board, that Cathy Paris, chair of the Faculty Senate’s Curricular Affairs committee, brought to their attention. The new programs included a minor in Art; an M.S. in Complex Systems and Data Science; an undergraduate certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TOSEL); a Ph.D. in Food Systems; and a Pre-Actuarial academic certificate. 

See a PDF of the consent agenda of all approved resolutions for the May board meeting.