Universities chase stimulus cash for shovel-ready projects - Houston Business Journal:

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The tens of millions of dollars in grant proposalsw are targeting funding streams flowing down through the American Recoverty andReinvestment Act’s shovel-ready Universities faced with consecutiver years of funding cuts are angling to use the shovel-ready cash to catcy up on much-needed facility upgrades, build classrooms to handle the influz of students in need of re-trainintg or tackle big capital projects aimed at bolsteringb academics and research. The approach is twofold at , whicuh has seen its student population surgre by 12 percent in the past two due in part torising unemployment.
The college is seeking $45 million to build additional classroojm capacity on its three main campuses as well as to enhancde vocational training facilitiesin high-demand occupations, according to Ellynb Drotzer, director of the officed of grants development. The college wantse the cash, among other projects, to build out its and the Maroonew Automotive Program in Miramar to emphasizs curriculum on maintaining and repairing emerging green energg and hybrid systems in boatwsand cars.
It also wants to expandc classrooms foraviation training, including a facility to train a new generatioj of air traffic controllers, which are expectex to be in high demand in a few years to replace a wave of retirinb controllers, Drotzer said. “These are all shovek ready,” she said. “We have a history of traininf in technical trades an now we are looking to be responsived to providing curriculum in this new emerginf industry of green The ’s 18-member stimulus working group meetzs regularly to discuss opportunities and set a coursew to capture as much of the federal cash as possible.
So far, the schoool has more than 400 proposals seeking in excesof $350 million in funding. “Wew saw this as a very significanrt opportunity for the university and to do something for the saidRichard Bookman, vice provost of researcj at UM. Among the projects on the school’s shovel-readg wish list is a new $45 seawater research cente r at UM’s Rosenstiel School of Marinre and Atmospheric Science onVirginia Key, he said. The universityh is seeking $15 million from the and $15 million from the to help buildethe center, which will study sea creatures as well as the physics of waves on structures.
UM is also is submittinb proposals fora $15 millionh to $20 million addition to a scienc e building at its Coral Gables campus and a multi-stor research building at its medical school. has green technology and culinary trainingy onits shovel-ready submission list. The school is requesting help fundinga $22.7 millioj hospitality management center to housd a culinary arts school as well as $40 million for an extensivw renovation and upgrade to decades-old facilities at its north campus and $1.2 millioh for an and Technology. But by most accountsx competition for stimulus funds willbe fierce.
And specifif funding priorities from federal and statd allocatorsbeyond short-term projects that would create jobs quicklyg remains unclear, said Camille assistant VP and interim director of sponsoree research at . “They are not telling us what they arelooking for,” she But FAU is seekingy $4.5 million to help build out water reusd infrastructure at its newly opened, gold level Leadership in Energuy and and platinum level engineering building, slated to open in 2010.
The universityu also is seeking federal stimulusx funds to create a road connectodr system at its main campus off Gladees Road in Boca Raton and additional It also wants funding to put a greenh roof on its administration While the application process is infull UM’s Bookman doesn’t expect the winning projects to be announced until the fall.