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University of Delaware asks for $43.5 million in capital support, cites $1.2 billion deferred‑maintenance backlog
Summary
University of Delaware officials asked the Joint Capital Improvement Committee for capital assistance to address deferred maintenance, to fund Biden Hall planning and to expand classroom/lab capacity in Southern Delaware.
University of Delaware officials told the Joint Capital Improvement Committee they are seeking state capital assistance to help reduce a growing deferred‑maintenance backlog, fund planning for Biden Hall and expand instructional capacity in Southern Delaware.
President M. Headley Assanis summarized UD's FY26 capital requests as three items: $20 million to maintain teaching and research spaces and address deferred maintenance, $20 million toward Biden Hall (a proposed social sciences building), and $3.5 million to convert and upgrade teaching space on UD's Georgetown and Lewes campuses to support associate pathway programs in Southern Delaware.
"This request before you today focus on three important areas that serve Delaware's interest," Assanis told the committee, noting UD's role in educating Delaware residents and in statewide economic activity. The president said UD enrolls a larger share of Delaware residents than nonresidents and that programs such as the state's First‑State Promise and SEED funding are critical in keeping college affordable for in‑state students.
Provost Laura Carlson presented UD's pathways initiative to expand associate degree capacity, particularly in business, nonprofit management and health sciences, and described planned upgrades to 2,000 square feet of classroom/lab space on the Georgetown and Lewes campuses and improvements to ten classrooms to support hybrid/distance learning. Carlson said the $3.5 million request would support those upgrades.
On deferred maintenance, UD officials said the university has a backlog approaching $1.2 billion. Assanis described recent capital work the university completed—Building X (an interdisciplinary science facility) and renovations such as Spencer Lab and Drake Hall improvements—and asked the committee to consider restoring a prior $20 million recommended appropriation to $20 million (the governor's current recommendation included $14 million for deferred maintenance). Assanis said modern labs and repaired classrooms are critical both to teaching and to retaining external research sponsors; the university reported sponsored research spending of about $269 million in FY24.
UD staff also described an ongoing design and fundraising process for a STAR‑campus biopharma/manufacturing facility (the "Sabre" project) and said the first construction phase is designed to proceed as funds are secured; UD reported it is roughly 80–90% complete on design and planned to start the first construction phase in September. Miguel Garcia Diaz, UD's vice president for research, cautioned that while new awards continue to come, recent delays at some federal agencies (notably NIH/HHS) have created uncertainty. He estimated a possible annual fiscal exposure if certain federal reimbursement caps were implemented but underscored that what is most damaging is policy uncertainty.
Committee members asked UD to provide supplemental materials, including the university's deferred‑maintenance list, details on Biden Hall planning and updated projections of federal‑funding exposure. No committee floor votes were taken at the conclusion of the presentation.
