Posted 7-18-08

UW Trustees Approve Supplemental Budget Request

Laramie (UW) -- The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees today (Thursday) approved a supplemental budget request for submission to the governor in anticipation of the 2009 legislative session.

UW's request includes nearly $50 million in permanent and one-time funds for the operating budget and $7.4 million in one-time capital facilities funds.

"I think President Buchanan presented a thoughtful recommendation to the board that is consistent with UW's priorities and plans," says UW Board of Trustees President Chuck Brown.

The largest request is for $27.5 million in endowment matching funds, including funding the $15 million balance of UW's 2008 budget request, plus an additional $12.5 million. With the $10 million approved in 2008, the request will provide a total of $37.5 million in endowment matching funds for the current biennium.

"During the 2007-2008 biennium, UW matched $26.5 million in endowment gifts while fund-raising efforts were focused mostly on capital facilities," UW President Tom Buchanan says. "With a shift in focus to endowment fund-raising, given donor interest levels, and the tremendous work of the university's Foundation, $37.5 million in private fund-raising for endowments this biennium is a realistic goal."

UW's top capital construction priority is support of the State Construction Management Division's anticipated funding request for state laboratories in Cheyenne and Laramie.

The Laramie component of the request will be an expansion and renovation of the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory that the university operates. These improvements will ensure that federal BSL-3 (Biological Safety Lab-Level III) standards can be met as the Vet Lab performs work on livestock and wildlife diseases.

The university's biennial budget also includes nearly $5 million to implement parking and transportation recommendations by Stantec Consulting, which completed a six-month master plan study earlier this year at the direction of a consortium including UW, the city of Laramie and the Wyoming Department of Transportation.

The funds would be used to purchase and improve remote parking lots, purchase or lease additional shuttle buses for expanded routes and pay the operating costs for additional routes.

The university's operating budget request also includes nearly $7.5 million in recurring and one-time funds to support essential outreach education infrastructure and UW's Outreach Video Network as part of the university's efforts to serve students across the state; a request of $3.5 million so that UW libraries can pursue membership in the Greater Western Library Alliance in 2011; and $600,000 in one-time funds to support a pilot internship project with businesses across Wyoming to promote workforce development in the state.

A $2.7 million one-time request for Level III final design of a new art building tops UW's capital facilities budget. Like the College of Business project, this funding is necessary to stay on track for construction funding in 2010. The new building, which would likely be located in the Centennial Complex near the UW Art Museum, would house the university's visual arts programs.

The existing Fine Arts Center, located adjacent to War Memorial Fieldhouse off Willett Drive, was built in 1972 and is "overcrowded and significantly out of date," Buchanan says.

A renovation and expansion of the existing building for the performing arts will begin following construction of the new art building.

Also, UW's budget includes a request for an additional $3 million in athletics facilities matching funds and bonding authority for $8.25 million from Federal Mineral Royalties available in 2011 to complete renovations at War Memorial Stadium and construct an indoor tennis facility.

"Construction costs have been soaring and we want to complete the Athletics Facilities Plan," Buchanan says.

More details about the UW budget proposal and the parking and transportation plans can be found on the Web at www.uwyo.edu/uw/budget.

The trustees had to approve UW's supplemental budget this month to meet the state budget division's Aug. 29 deadline for the 2009-10 biennium. The trustees do not meet in August.