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University of Minnesota asks Legislature for $200 million HEAPR and $20 million agricultural research design fund
Summary
The University of Minnesota told the Senate Capital Investment Committee on Feb. 18 that it needs a predictable $200 million HEAPR appropriation to address a nearly $6 billion deferred‑maintenance backlog and seeks $20 million to complete design of an advanced agriculture research farm in Mower County.
The University of Minnesota asked the Senate Capital Investment Committee on Feb. 18 for $200 million in HEAPR (Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement) funding to address deferred maintenance across its system, and a separate $20 million request to complete design work for a new Future of Agriculture Research and Management (FARM) facility in southern Minnesota.
University President Rebecca Cunningham, who opened the presentation, and Alice Roberts Davis, vice president for university services, said the HEAPR request would fund more than 100 projects in more than 75 buildings across U of M campuses and that the system’s deferred maintenance backlog is nearly $6,000,000,000. Roberts Davis said roughly one-third of the university’s approximately 30,000,000 square feet — about 9,000,000 square feet — is in poor or critical condition and that state bond funding for higher education has fallen from as much as 50% of bonding allocations in earlier eras to about 10% when a bill is enacted.
The HEAPR appropriation would be used for life-safety, accessibility and reliability work, Roberts Davis said, citing examples including a safer railing option for the Washington Avenue pedestrian bridge, replacement of natural gas lines in Crookston, repairs to leaky pipes in the 19‑story Moose Tower, and mechanical upgrades to the Food Science and Nutrition Building on the St. Paul campus. She told the committee that while buildings are safe today, delaying renewal increases emergency outages and long-term costs.
On FARM, Roberts Davis said the university has acquired more than 1,300 acres in Mower County and seeks $20 million for design to create a teaching, research and outreach farm using robotics, predictive analytics and other modern technologies to study soil health, crops, animals and downstream environmental impacts.
Committee members asked about the university’s prioritization process for HEAPR projects. Roberts Davis said priorities stem from decennial facility condition assessments, campus facilities input, square footage and building-condition scores; funds are then distributed with the Twin Cities campus receiving the largest share because it holds the most gross square footage.
Several senators praised a temporary barrier the university installed on the Washington Avenue bridge, saying it averted suicides. Senator Pappas and others urged permanent barriers, noting the university does not own the bridge. Cunningham and Roberts Davis said the university invested in temporary fencing to protect students even though the bridge is owned by Hennepin County.
Committee members also pressed the university on its indirect cost rate for federal research, which Cunningham said is among the lowest in the Big Ten; she said underinvestment in facilities has depressed the university’s indirect cost recovery and may forfeit tens of millions of federal dollars over several years.
The university concluded by noting a track record of quickly spending state appropriations for capital renewal and said predictable, regular HEAPR funding would allow multi‑year planning and cost‑effective repairs.
