FY2015 Capital Budget Testimony (PDF)
College of Maryland
FY 2014 Capital Budget Request
Senate Budget and Tax
Capital Budget Subcommittee
March 17, 2014
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House Appropriations Committee
Capital Budget Subcommittee
March 19, 2014
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Ian Newbould, Interim President
Chip Jackson, Vice President for Business and Finance
Introduction
St. Mary’s College of Maryland, located in Historic St. Mary’s City, is designated the state’s public honors college. The College’s charter, established by the State of Maryland in 1992, provides both the promise of a public education affordable to all, thriving on diversity and the high standards of academic excellence. As always, the College is grateful to the Governor, the Legislature, and to the Maryland Higher Education Commission for their ongoing commitment to higher education and to St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
The College has 1,789 full-time students enrolled for the fall 2013 semester and a FY14 unrestricted operating budget of about $67.0 million, of which the State of Maryland provides approximately $19.9 million as a general fund grant.
St. Mary’s charter as a public honors college results from visionary legislation with two institutional goals that are frequently at odds with each other. As defined in the 1992 legislation that established the honors college, St. Mary’s College is charged by the state of Maryland to provide both:
(1) the promise of public education affordable to all and thriving on diversity, and
(2) high standards of academic excellence
Supporting the two goals articulated by the state’s vision for the College—the educational requirements of honors students and the promise of access—sets St. Mary’s College uniquely in the state and national higher education sector. The College has been highly successful supporting state-wide college completion goals, with the highest graduation rate among Maryland publics, and was recently recognized as the third highest nationally among small public colleges. The College also leads the state in graduation of diverse students.
Capital Budget for FY 2015
Phase I construction of the Anne Arundel Hall replacement has commenced. The building has been demolished except for the crawl space where archaeology work is nearly completed. The construction of the new parking lot is about 60% complete. The College is requesting $17.85 million in FY15 and $10.2 million in FY16 for Phase II construction of the project. Phase II completes construction of the new building.
The new facility will accommodate the history, anthropology, archaeology, museum studies, and international languages and culture programs of the College that relate directly to the historical and cultural legacy of Maryland’s first capital. The building will also house staff, laboratories, and artifact curation space for Historic St. Mary’s City Archaeology Department. This space is critical to HSMC’s accreditation by the American Association of Museums. Locating this building adjacent to HSCM’s historic town will enable the College and the City to remarkably advance the affiliation between the institutions by providing unique opportunities for research, teaching, and public interpretation.
The College’s five-year capital improvement plan also includes:
• a new Academic Building and Auditorium to address deficiencies in instruction, study, and assembly space,
• new outdoor athletic facilities to replace the College’s existing stadium which will be displaced by the new Academic Building and Auditorium, and
• Campus-Wide Infrastructure Improvements.
Given that all three of these projects occur from fiscal 2017 to 2019 and that SMCM is the State’s smallest four-year campus in NASF, the President should comment on how these projects will be undertaken and sequenced to minimize the impact on students and faculty.
The Relocation of Athletic Fields is currently scheduled within the Governor’s CIP so that it is completed before construction begins for the new Academic Building and Auditorium. Maintaining this sequencing will allow the College to maintain varsity programs without impact.
Also, construction of the new Academic Building and Auditorium has no impact on other space on campus. The site, the current varsity stadium, will allow construction activity to proceed with only minimal impacts to campus activities.
Lastly, our Campus-Wide Improvements Project is comprised of numerous small projects that will improve the entire campus infrastructure. As such, each individual effort under this project can be coordinated so as to have minimal impacts on campus activities.