The Board of Regents held a special meeting on September 18, 2025, to discuss the University of Minnesota's six-year capital plan and the 2026 state capital request. The meeting began with Executive Vice President Goldman outlining the importance of the capital plan, which aims to address critical facility issues and invest $750 million over the next several years. This investment is intended to create a predictable capital pipeline that will facilitate long-term planning and transformational changes across the university system.

Vice President Alice Roberts Davis presented the details of the six-year capital plan, which is a comprehensive approach to addressing the university's pressing capital needs from 2026 through 2031. The plan is required by board policy and is designed to focus limited resources on high-priority projects. It includes two main components: a request for state funding over the next three legislative sessions and a list of university-funded projects currently in early design stages.

Davis emphasized the importance of transparency by providing a list of projects under consideration that are not yet ready for inclusion in the plan. This approach allows the board to have a clear understanding of potential future projects. As projects progress from planning to full design and construction, they will be presented to the board for approval either through the annual capital budget or as midyear amendments.

The identification of projects is driven by two primary forces: alignment with the university's mission of research, teaching, and outreach, and the need for significant investments in existing facilities. The plan balances these needs against available resources, regulatory requirements, and geographic considerations across the university system.

The meeting concluded with a summary of the capital plan's organization, which includes state capital requests for the next three years. Davis highlighted the ongoing priority for Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement (HEAPR) funding, as well as specific requests for the Saint Paul Campus Center and dentistry clinical renovations in 2026. The board will review these requests in detail at their next meeting.