Spotlight

Summer 2007                                                                  Back to Spotlight home page

A down-payment on crumbling classrooms

After years of advocacy, a down-payment on Kansas higher education has been made. To address a backlog of deferred maintenance projects at Kansas institutions, lawmakers
approved a $380 million, five-year plan in the 2007 session. ESU officials expect about $8.9 million in the next five years ($5.4 million from the state general fund and $3.4 million from interest earnings on ESU tuition). The Legislature’s plan also includes tax credits to lure private donations.

President Michael Lane (left) and state of Kansas Rep. Don Hill, Emporia, visit during ESU Day at the Capitol this spring.

Initial plans include upgrades to the infrastructure of William Allen White Library, the HPER building, and Roosevelt Hall. Still, the allotment falls short of the high-priority list ESU developed, which requested $12.1 million in the first year alone to address a total of $44.7 million in crumbling infrastructure at ESU. The total for all deferred maintenance needs in the state’s publicly owned higher education buildings is $663 million.

“The package is certainly helpful to us,” said Ray Hauke, vice president for administration and fiscal affairs. “We will be much farther along than we would without it. But hopefully we all realize that it is a beginning point, and not the final solution.”

Last Updated April 17, 2008