Board of Higher Education approves OSU building budget

OSU looks to build, renovate many buildings on campus, including College of Business and international residence hall

By: Robert Ingle

Posted: 7/23/08

With the building budget for 2009-11 approved by the Oregon Board of Higher Education, Oregon State University looks to improve and construct several buildings on campus, including a new College of Business building, international residence hall and student involvement center.

Of the $1.36 billion requested by the Oregon University System at the 2009 Oregon legislature session, OSU has asked for $284 million, much more then the second-highest request from Portland State University, which sought only $90 million. However, these numbers don't accurately reflect the actual amount the universities are requesting from the state.

Oregon State plans to match the money requested in the form of XI-G bonds ($59 million) and with money from private donations and other means ($63 million). The remainder ($162 million) will come from student fees and revenues generated from the projects created.

In actuality, of the $1.36 billion in requests, only about $226 million is being requested from the state, but schools still need to ask for the authority to construct new buildings, even if they are actually going to pay for them themselves.

However, there are no guarantees about the budget being approved by the governor or the legislature. The Oregon legislature, which will convene on Jan. 12, 2009, usually doesn't get to building budgets until near the end of the six month session, leaving whether or not the projects will actually be started completely up in the air. Still, members of the Oregon University System remain hopeful.

"It's a long process, but this is the first milestone approval," said Di Saunders, director of communications for the Oregon University System in an interview with the Corvallis Gazette Times.

Despite sometimes only getting half the projects approved, the OUS tries to get as many projects passed as possible because they greatly enhance the education as well as the support for students attending the universities.

Mark McCambridge, Oregon State University's Vice President for Finance and Administration, stated that OSU has several projects laid out, including an Academic Success Center which would be designed to centralize help for struggling students.

"One of our biggest challenges is retention of students, especially between their freshman and sophomore year," McCambridge said. "Our goal is to create a center where everyone can go and get help, with the goal of trying to make that transition available and easy to go to."

Another of OSU's projects is a four-story student involvement center to host student government, leadership and various other groups to keep student activities connected. Currently, McCambridge explains, they are spread throughout the Memorial Union and Snell Hall, and synergies just don't exist.

Other projects proposed include new facilities for Student Health Services ($19 million), interior and exterior renovation of Education Hall ($17.5 million), expanding the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport ($18 million) and renovation and upgrades to current cultural centers on campus ($10 million), among others.

"Each of the buildings has their own reason as to why we're building them," McCambridge said.

"For the international residence hall, we want to integrate the students and have living and learning centers close by. Again, it's about retention and helping those students during that first window of time."

In the future, OSU is thinking about new buildings for the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, a Pharmacy building and additions to the Linus Pauling Science Center, but for now, the simple hope is that the projects they've asked for will all make it through to creation.