Capital Project Guidelines

Overview
Download Guidelines
Proposal Package Templates and Forms
FAQs
For More Information

Overview

The Capital Project Guidelines provide detailed information on process of preparing and submitting a capital project request to the Office of the Provost. The goal of the process is to ensure that requests are based on careful analysis of a unit's academic or administrative needs. The guidelines include a detailed description of the information required, deadline for submission, evaluation criteria used by the Office of the Provost and the Capital Projects Committee, and what to expect after a request has been submitted.

The guidelines will help units work through the capital projects request process and:

Analyze capital project needs
Understand the University’s decision-making process for capital project approval
Assess space needs and relate them to overall University priorities and guiding principles
Bring greater uniformity to institutional space analysis and planning
Promote more productive use of existing facilities
Ensure that any new or expanded facilities are essential to the University’s academic and research mission and competitiveness

The guidelines apply to General Fund academic and administrative units on the Ann Arbor campus only. They do not apply to auxiliary units (e.g., Housing, Athletics, Unions, Utilities, Parking), the U-M Health Systems (i.e., U-M Hospitals, Health Centers), or the Dearborn or Flint campuses.

Download Guidelines

Capital Project Guidelines (.pdf)
Capital Project Process Flow Diagram (.pdf)

Proposal Package Templates and Forms

The following describes the templates and forms that units will use to create a Capital Project Proposal Package.

Document Name & Description	Requirement	Due	Format
Statement of Need Used to describe the problem, options considered, the preferred solution, and other supporting information	Required	Sept. 15 to Vice Provost for Academic and Budgetary Affairs	Follow format outlined in instructions [download]
Cover Sheet Summarizes all supporting material submitted as the Capital Project Proposal Package	Required	After Provost agrees to sponsor the project	Use template provided [download]
FUNDING PLAN:
Overview of Funding Plan General description of how the unit plans to fund the project.	Required	After Provost agrees to sponsor the project	Follow format outlined in instructions [download]
Source/Use Projections Summarizes the unit’s 3-to-5 year financial history of sources, uses, and balances and projects the financial outlook for the next 10 years	Required	After Provost agrees to sponsor the project	Use template provided [download] Sample [download]
Data and Assumptions for Source/Use Projections Provides supporting data and all assumptions used to create Source/Use Projections	Required	After Provost agrees to sponsor the project	Unit determines format; limit 2 pages.
Gift and Grant Agreements Lists all formal gift and grant agreements that will be used to support the capital project proposal	Required (if agreements exist)	After Provost agrees to sponsor the project	Use template provided [download]
Capital Requests and Projects in Progress Lists capital project requests currently in progress	Required (for units with multiple capital projects or requests)	After Provost agrees to sponsor the project	Use template provided [download]
Preliminary Functional Needs Worksheet Assists units in determining the basic functional needs of their request	Optional (recommended for units with limited capital project planning experience)	After Provost agrees to sponsor the project	Use template provided [download]
List of Other Institutions with Similar Functional Needs Lists other institutions that have completed projects with a similar functional need	Required (if known)	After Provost agrees to sponsor the project	Use template provided [download]
Interim Moves Plan Enables units to identify additional costs for relocations and moves related to capital projects	Optional (but strongly recommended)	After Provost agrees to sponsor the project	Unit determines format Refer to Appendix C of the "Capital Project Guidelines" for a detailed checklist of interim moves considerations.

FAQs

For frequently asked questions about the Capital Project Guidelines or process, visit FAQs.

For More Information

For an overview of the implementation of the Capital Projects Process, refer to Projects Underway.

For more information on the Capital Projects Guidelines or process, contact space.utilization@umich.edu.