Strategic Facilities Principles

2008 Capital Budget Guidelines

1. Projects must reflect Strategic Plan principles:

  • Student focus
  • Community success
  • Stewardship

and strategic directions:

  • Increase access and opportunity
  • Promote and measure high-quality learning programs
  • Provide programs and services integral to state and region economic needs
  • Innovate to meet current and future education needs efficiently

2. Integrated planning

  • Project supports college/university academic plan
  • Supports the "core" academic purposes and links to degrees, diplomas and certificates
  • Supports other demonstrable facilities' needs

3. State's economy, workforce development

  • Projects must be clear as to purpose

4. Partnership and collaborations

  • Stronger emphasis over 2006

5. Planning Process

  • Projects link to Facilities Master Plan
  • Predesign reports completed
  • Projects phased or with previous support from Board or Legislature receive preference

6. Reinvestment

  • Emphasize best use of existing facilities; reduction of deferred maintenance; adaptive reuse
  • Improve Facilities Condition Index (FCI)
  • Discourage construction of new space

7. Space and Room Utilization

  • Review of actual room use and data

8. Campus right-sizing

  • Encourage demolition of excess square footage and remodeling of remaining space

9. Property Acquisition

  • Strategic, high visibility project for property acquisition
  • Address campus growth and community encroachment

10. Operating Costs

  • Confirm ability to fund operating costs and debt service obligation

11. Evaluation

  • Project Advisory Teams convened
  • Academic Review Teams
  • Scoring process, Attachment B
  • Board of Trustees' public hearings
  • Campuses may choose to begin design
  • No preference to new projects not seen by Board and/or legislature in prior capital budgets

12. Design and Construction Standards

  • Demonstrate sustainability and adherence to system design and construction standards

13. Initiatives

  • Consolidate many smaller projects system-wide
  • Science Lab renovations
  • Demolition of obsolete space
  • Classrooms showcasing systemwide or national best practices in innovations in teaching & learning

Strategic Directions 2006-2010: Minnesota State Colleges and Universities 2006-2010 Strategic Plan

Goal 1. Increase Access and Opportunity. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities will provide an increasing number of people from all walks of life with the opportunity to experience the benefits of higher education.

Goal 1.1 - Raise Post-Secondary Participation by meeting needs of diverse students
Goal 1.2 - Maintain affordability
Goal 1.3 - Work with other to prepare student for college

Goal 2. Promote and measure high-quality learning programs and services. Minnesota State Colleges and Universities will provide students with a full range of high quality learning programs and student services that respond to student need and document student achievement.

Goal 2.1 - Demostrate high-quality
Goal 2.2 - Produce graduates with strong, adaptable, flexible skills
Goal 2.3 - Provide multiple delivery options

Goal 3. Provide programs integral to state and regional economic needs. Minnesota State Colleges and Universities will work to maintain and build vital communities and economies at the local, regional and statewide levels.

Goal 3.1 - Identified and meet economic development priorities
Goal 3.2 - Support regional vitality
Goal 3.3 - Develop each institution's capacity to be engaged

Goal 4. Innovate to meet current and future educational needs efficiently.

Goal 4.1 - Build organizational capacity for change to meet future challenges
Goal 4.2 - Reward and support instituions, administrators, faculty and staff innoations
Goal 4.3 - Identify and remove barriers to innovation and responsivenss
Goal 4.4 - Hire and develop leaders who will initiatie and support innovation throughout the system
Goal 4.5 - Promote acountability for results through a system of accessible reports to the public and other stakeholders

In February of 1997 and again in June of 1998 the Board of Trustees adopted the following priorities and principles for development of the physical infrastructure to support quality education at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.

Office of the Chancellor facilities will:

  • Focus on preservation and renewal to protect the state's investment in our facilities, and to offer high quality, attractive facilities where students can succeed
  • Support the goals and directions of the System's strategic plan as well as each college or university master plan
  • Maximize functionality of the facility to accommodate current and future academic programs
  • Utilize future-oriented technology to enhance teaching and learning
  • Consider environmental impacts, cost of lease vs ownership, energy conservation, operation and maintenance costs, and personnel requirements in context with existing campus resources
  • Contiguously locate compatible functions, and planning should connect buildings when appropriate
  • Provide centralized one-stop services for students
  • Correspond to the appropriate regional plan
  • Start the building process by completing a predesign to provide a planning framework for academic and facilities needs

If you have questions, comments please e-mail us ( gregory.ewig@minnstate.edu) or refer to the staff directory link at the top of this page for additional contact information.