Breaking Ground at UMB Pharmacy

I had a great time this morning attending the "groundbreaking" ceremony for the UMB Pharmacy Addition. Governor O'Malley, President Ramsay, Speaker Pro Tem Jones, Pharmacy SGA President Yara Haddad, and others participated in the event celebrating a long-awaited project. My understanding is that this project has been in queue for nearly two decades, and finally has been pushed through planning and now to the construction phase. While the building has seemed a bit auxiliary in previous years, leaders in Annapolis have recognized the great need to support the Pharmacy program becuase of the great demand for pharmacists in the region.

This case raises a question that I had for a long time, which was how are buildings actually built? And related, why does it take so long? And who pays for the buildings?

Generally, funding comes from four areas for buildings in universities:
1) state budget
2) university budget general fund balance, whether from leftover student fees or unrestricted state, federal, or grant funds
3) private partner dollars
4) bonds (loans), whether applied on the balance of the university or private partner

The USM has provided an overview of the capital budget process for the public. More information can be found at the Capital Planning page the USM website.


Universities by far prefer to recieve funding from the State for capital projects. The availability of these funds is often limited, particularly during tough fiscal times. Additionally, in higher education, buildings that are funded both through public dollars and private dollars/bonds are often easier to push through the budget process becuase of the private buy-in and initiative ( a nickel, get a dime).

State funds, though, can only be used for "core mission" facilities. Core mission facilities are those which relate directly to the academic mission of the university, such as lecture halls, academic offices, administrative offices, athletic facilities used for academic gym classes. What is not included is residential facilities, dining halls, and student unions. I talk more about this budget process in a previous post. The other three categories can be used to fund these projects.

From my view, one problem with the reliance on the state capital budget process is that universities struggle to respond quickly to the needs of the students and the State in higher education. Additionally, false hope can develop if capital porjects are delayed year-after-year in the capital budget queue. The UMB Pharmacy building serves as an example of this. Nevertheless, the State provides a great resource and investment for our universities through capital projects. And as UMBC graduate Speaker Pro Tem says at groundbreaking ceremonies, "May it be on-time and underbudget!"