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announcement of capital projects process and guidelines

April 25, 2008

Dear Colleagues:

We are pleased to announce that effective May 1, 2008, a more formal capital projects process will be in place for General Fund academic and administrative units on the Ann Arbor campus.

As you may recall, the University of Michigan launched the Space Utilization Initiative as part of our efforts to be good stewards of the University’s physical and financial resources.  One of the Space Utilization Initiative’s first projects was to establish a more formal process for proposing, reviewing, and approving capital projects for General Fund academic and administrative units. New buildings and major renovations to existing buildings incur substantial costs to the University in terms of initial expenditures as well as ongoing operating expenses. A more formal capital projects process ensures that the University’s long-term investments in capital projects contribute to the academic and research needs of individual units and to the larger University.

The process provides structure and consistency in the steps to draft and submit a capital project request, including 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 process and guidelines will provide greater transparency for all members of the University community regarding request submissions and decision-making criteria.

Highlights of the capital projects process include:

- A September 15th annual submission deadline for capital project requests
- A listing of required institutional project approvals, based on estimated project costs
- A collective review of all capital project requests to prioritize institutional needs and allocate resources
- Available templates and resources to promote consistency when developing requests

The capital projects process and guidelines were developed with extensive input and review from both central administrative offices and academic units.  The guidelines and templates are available on the Space Utilization Initiative web site at www.provost.umich.edu/space/guidelines.  

For questions about the new capital projects process, guidelines, or templates, please contact Frances Mueller, the U-M Space Utilization Initiative project manager, at 734.763.5942 or space.utilization@umich.edu.  For more information on the Space Utilization Initiative, visit www.provost.umich.edu/space.

Sincerely,

Timothy P. Slottow, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Teresa A. Sullivan, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Stephen R. Forrest, Vice President for Research