Committee Draft November 27, 2007

Transcription

1 Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education Capital Construction Project Evaluation Form Institution/Campus: Project Name: Date of Governing Board Approval: November 20, 2007 Date Complete Proposal Received: November 26, 2007 Date of Commission Evaluation: December 6, 2007 Metropolitan Community College/Fort Omaha Cmps. Institute of Culinary Arts, Alumni Conference Center, and Entrance Drive Project Description: Metropolitan Community College is proposing to construct a 42,790 gross square foot (gsf) building and new south entrance drive to the Fort Omaha Campus. The new facility would house the Institute of Culinary Arts and an alumni conference center. A site plan is included at the end of this evaluation. The new south entrance off of Sorensen Parkway would eliminate safety hazards associated with th the existing 30 Street entrance. The culinary arts and hospitality and restaurant management programs would be relocated from 7,878 net assignable square feet (nasf) of space in Building 10 on the north end of campus. Culinary arts also leases a 1,420 nasf off-site kitchen to supplement existing on-campus instructional lab space. Fort Omaha presently has five conference/meeting rooms, totaling 5,073 nasf, in Buildings 7 and 10. These rooms are scheduled for both college and community groups, with the largest room able to accommodate 250 people. The new facility would include one classroom, seven instructional kitchen/lab spaces, bistro / private dining, office, and support space for the Institute of Culinary Arts. The alumni conference center would include conference space for up to 800 people, with the ability to sub-divide the space into five separate conference/meeting rooms. The conference center would also include pre-function gathering space and support spaces. The total project cost for construction of a new building and entrance drive is estimated to be $16,303,641 ($381.02/gsf). The total project cost includes about $2.6 million for sitework and construction of the new entrance drive and parking. The source of funding for the project would be approximately $5.0 million in capital improvement property tax funds, at least $1.5 million in private donations (see attached letter modifying the proposed source of funds), and remaining funding coming from student tuition and fees. Facility operating and maintenance (O&M) costs are expected to increase about $295,000 per year ($6.89/gsf/year). Savings from an off-site kitchen lease and room/equipment rental would help to reduce by about 10%, the amount of additional facility O&M funding required for this project. General operating funds would be the source of funds for these additional ongoing facility O&M expenses. -1-

2 1. The project proposal demonstrates compliance and consistency with the Comprehensive Statewide Plan, including the institutional role and mission assignment. Comments: Page 1-7 of the Commission's Comprehensive Statewide Plan for Postsecondary Education states: Nebraska public institutions are accountable to the State for making wise use of resources for programs, services, and facilities as well as for avoiding unnecessary duplication. Page 2-2 of the Plan states: Keep the net price of higher education affordable for students. Page 2-2 of the Plan also discussed the following regarding tuition and fees: Continue the existing state policy of maintaining moderate tuition rates at public postsecondary education institutions to promote access. Page 7-7 of the Plan outlining community college role and mission assignments states: Community colleges provide educational options for students seeking entry-level career training. The education program may culminate in an applied technology associate degree, diploma, or certificate; or an associate of arts or associate of science degree from an academic transfer program. Yes No 2. The project proposal demonstrates compliance and consistency with the Statewide Facilities Plan. Comments: This proposal largely demonstrates compliance and consistency with the Commission's Statewide Facilities Plan as outlined in the following criteria. Yes No -2-

3 2.A The proposed project includes only new or existing academic programs approved by the Commission. Comments: The Commission approved MCC s Culinary Arts AAS degree, certificate, and diploma for continuation on September 12, Options within the Culinary Arts program include: Culinary Arts, Chef's Apprenticeship, Culinary Management, Baking and Pastry, Culinology Transfer, and Hospitality and Restaurant Management (prior to its approval as a free-standing degree program in 2007). The Commission s Executive Director approved MCC s Academic Transfer AS degrees (which includes a pre-dietetics option) for continuation on October 12, The MCC Hospitality and Restaurant Management AAS degree was approved by the Commission as a new program on May 17, Yes No 2.B Degree that the project demonstrates compliance with the governing-board-approved institutional comprehensive facilities plan. Comments: The Metropolitan Community College Master Plan for Campuses dated March 2003, was approved by the College's Board of Governors on April 22, The Institute for the Culinary Arts and new entrance are included in the Plan as stated on page 6: At Fort Omaha, the plan hinges on a strategy to make this historic campus more visible and accessible to students and the public. Currently, the majority of educational programs are concentrated at the extreme north end of the campus, preventing the buildings and spaces of the former fort from becoming an integral part of the campus experience. Phase I of the plan begins to integrate the southern end of the campus by creating a new and highly visible entry off Sorensen Parkway, and siting a proposed new Culinary Arts Institute at the entrance, visible from the highway and able to attract residents and visitors to the campus. The Culinary Arts Institute will be complemented by conference center facilities housed in -3-

4 the adapted adjacent mule barn building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic mule barn building will be vacated when Auto Collision and Masonry programs finalize their relocation to the Irvington vocational training center in the near future. During design of this proposed project, the college determined that the mule barn building would not be well suited for a conference center due to the many columns in the structure. The college believes the vacated space would be better used to meet other space shortages for academic and/or institutional support spaces. 2.C Degree that the project addresses existing facility rehabilitation needs as represented in a facilities audit report or program statement. Comments: Not applicable, as the project s primary purpose is to address functional and quantitative space deficiencies. 2.D Degree that project justification is due to inadequate quality of the existing facility because of functional deficiencies, and is supported through externally documented reports (accreditation reports, program statements, etc.). Comments: The American Culinary Federation Accreditation team recently visited the FOC Culinary program. Some negative comments about the program included: The current program space for Culinary Arts is inadequate, under-equipped and unsafe. The college reports that much of the existing equipment is outdated with today's advanced technologies and permanently secured so flexibility of space doesn't exist. Any new equipment should have flexible disconnects and be on wheels for easy and quick mobility and demonstration. -4-

5 2.E Degree that the amount of space required to meet programmatic needs is justified by application of space/land guidelines and utilization reports. Comments: The overall shortage of space on the Fort Omaha Campus was determined through a master planning process, which involved the review of various space guidelines. Classroom Utilization - The culinary arts and hospitality and restaurant management programs scheduled six classrooms a total of 63.5 hours per week during the 2007 fall quarter. Only one of these classrooms was dedicated to these two programs (scheduled 32 hours per week), with the remaining five being shared with other academic programs. The proposed new facility would also include one classroom for use by the two programs. Other campus classrooms would continue to be used to meet class scheduling needs for the two programs. As a comparison, four-year institutions consider nationally recognized standards of 30 hours per week to be fully utilized. Class Laboratory Utilization - The Culinary Arts production kitchen and bakery were scheduled 70.5 hours per week during the 2007 fall quarter. Leased kitchen lab space was scheduled an additional 13 hours per week. The new facility would contain seven kitchen labs to reduce overcrowding and provide for enrollment expansion. This compares to nationally recognized lab utilization standards for four-year institutions of 20 hours per week. Conference/Meeting Room Utilization - The college uses five conference/meeting rooms in Buildings 7 and 10. These rooms were scheduled an average of 40.4 hours each per week in October Nationally recognized standards for conference/meeting room use are not available. -5-

6 2.F Degree that the amount of space required to meet specialized programmatic needs is justified by professional planners and/or externally documented reports. Comments: Space needs for proposed specialized spaces were based on a review by professional planners of the existing spaces and equipment and furnishing requirements for each program. The college also identified the need for several additional instructional lab kitchens not currently available to include a chocolate, a la cart and catering kitchen. 2.G Ability of the project to fulfill currently established needs, and projected enrollment and/or program growth requirements. Comments: A new facility would provide modern and adequate facilities for the culinary arts and hospitality and restaurant management programs for the foreseeable future. The culinary arts program s duplicated headcount enrollment has grown from 339 in to 715 in This represented over 10% of the Fort Omaha Campus enrollment. The proposed culinary arts program has a goal of serving 1,000 students. The proposed facility should be able to accommodate this additional growth. Overall college enrollment has increased over the past ten years. Fall 2006 total headcount enrollment at Metropolitan Community College was 14,098, compared to 10,759 students in the fall

7 2.H The need for future projects and/or operating and maintenance costs are within the State's ability to fund them, or evidence is presented that the institution has a sound plan to address these needs and/or costs. Comments: Space vacated after construction of a new facility would be renovated by college staff for a relatively small cost. Increased ongoing facility operating and maintenance costs associated with a new building are within the college s general operating and capital improvement funds budget capacities given existing levy limits. 2.I Evidence is provided that this project is the best of all known and reasonable alternatives. Comments: With an overall shortage of space on the Fort Omaha Campus, construction of a new building to accommodate expanded and modern space for the culinary arts and hospitality and restaurant management programs is a reasonable solution to meet these needs. Consolidating and expanding the campus conference space also appears reasonable based on current and projected use. Vacated spaces can be used to meet other academic space shortages on campus. -7-

8 2.J Degree that the project would enhance institutional effectiveness/efficiencies with respect to programs and/or costs. Comments: Some cost savings would be realized by this proposal that would be available to offset the ongoing costs to operate and maintain a new building. This would include minor savings from an off-site kitchen that is leased for culinary arts, and room/equipment rentals associated with off-campus gatherings/meetings for which there is currently insufficient space available. Construction of a modern instructional facility for the culinary arts and hospitality and restaurant management programs would provide an asset to assist in recruiting students to campus. 2.K Degree that the amount of requested funds is justified for the project and does not represent an insufficient or extraordinary expenditure of resources. Comments: Construction Costs - The college s estimate for construction of an institute of culinary arts, alumni conference center, and entrance drive is $16,303,641 ($381.02/gsf). Commission staff s estimate of the total project cost is $14,683,500 ($343.15/gsf) for new construction of college student union space per R.S. Means Square Foot Costs, modified to account for instructional kitchen space. The college s estimate is $1,620,141 (11.03%) higher than Commission staff s estimate for the project. The primary difference between these estimates is in the building construction costs and artwork. The estimates for sitework (including the new entrance drive), portions of the construction costs (including plumbing, mechanical, and electrical costs), professional fees, equipment, and contingency are reasonably close. The remaining difference is the cost to construct a signature building with high-end design features and materials. This compares to Commission -8-

9 staff s construction cost estimate that is based on goodquality median-priced design and materials. MCC is proposing to provide at least $1.5 million in private donations to support the added costs associated with constructing a signature facility. The difference between estimates would be very close after taking the private donations into account. Operating and Maintenance Costs - The college is estimating an increase in ongoing facility operating and maintenance (O&M) costs of $295,000 per year ($6.89/gsf/year) to support the new facility. Commission staff s estimate to provide ongoing facility O&M for this project is $289,400 per year ($6.76/gsf/year). Both estimates are based on 2007 dollars. The college s estimate is $5,600 (1.9%) higher than Commission staff s estimate. The difference between these estimates on both a dollar and percentage basis is small. 2.L Source(s) of funds requested are appropriate for the project. Comments: The use of capital improvement property tax funds for construction of instructional and support space on a community college campus is appropriate. As of June 30, 2007, MCC had a capital improvement fund balance of $15.22 million ($10.79 million in property tax funds and $4.42 million in tuition, fees & other income). MCC presently collects no capital improvement levy. The maximum allowed capital improvement levy limit is 1.0 per $100 property valuation. If MCC were to collect the maximum allowed capital improvement levy, it could generate about $4.8 million in FY Beginning in FY , MCC is proposing to inject approximately one third of all of MCC s annual tuition and fees into the capital improvement fund. This would add $7,412,314 in FY , $7,457,729 in FY , and $7,670,666 in FY , for use in financing this and other proposed capital projects. These amounts -9-

10 include a $5 per credit hour facilities fee created this year that will generate approximately $2.3 million per year. No other community college uses tuition to supplement its capital improvement fund. Excluding self-supporting revenue bond facilities and leased space, MCC s current facilities replacement value is approximately $100 million. Assuming a long-term expenditure requirement of 2% of facilities replacement value for major repairs and renovations, MCC would have sufficient capital improvement fund revenues to maintain its existing physical plant. The use of private donations to offset the increased costs associated with creating a signature facility at the new entrance to the Fort Omaha Campus is appropriate. 3. The project proposal demonstrates that it is not an unnecessary duplication of facilities. Comments: The College has demonstrated that this project would not unnecessarily duplicate facilities. Yes No 3.A Degree that the project increases access and/or serves valid needs considering the existence of other available and suitable facilities. Comments: This project would directly and indirectly address a substantial portion of Fort Omaha Campus space deficit as identified through a master planning process. The 2003 MCC Master Plan identified a deficit of 58,143 gsf at the Fort Omaha Campus. This proposal would create about 42,800 gsf of new space on campus. Spaces vacated by Culinary Arts, conference space, and the Mule Barn Building would all be available to meet an existing campus shortfall of classroom, class lab, and study space. -10-

11 COMMISSION ACTION AND COMMENTS: Action: Pursuant to the Nebraska Revised Statutes (Cum. Supp. 2006), Section , the Budget, Construction, and Financial Aid Committee of the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education recommends approval of Metropolitan Community College s proposal for a Fort Omaha Campus institute of culinary arts, alumni conference center, and new entrance drive as outlined in the Program Statement dated October 19, 2007, and letter modifying the source of funds dated November 19, Comments: The need for additional space for the Institute of Culinary Arts and the overall shortage of space on the Fort Omaha Campus are well documented. This project would help address these deficiencies. The construction of a signature building at the new main entrance to the campus would bring attention to the Institute of Culinary Arts and its national reputation. The Commission commends MCC for its proposal to provide at least $1.5 million in private donations for this project. This amount is sufficient to bridge the difference between a good-quality facility and one that could be considered a signature facility with a high-end design and higher quality materials. The Commission is concerned however, with the high utilization of tuition to finance this project. Approve Disapprove -11-

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