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Mayville State seeks $35M to finish Old Main, asks for pay adjustments and security funding
Summary
Mayville State told appropriators it is on schedule and on budget for Old Main Phase II and asked the committee to fund the second phase ($35 million), provide systemwide employee market adjustments, and fund a $1.3 million campus security upgrade.
Mayville State University President Brian Van Horn told the Appropriations — Education and Environment Division the Old Main renovation is on time and on budget and asked the committee for $35,000,000 to complete phase two of that project, plus operational funding to close a wage gap and targeted campus-security funding.
Van Horn said the Old Main renovation has restored historic fabric and will house about 45–50% of the university’s classroom space once complete. “We are on cost and on time at this point in time,” he told the committee, and later added that the renovated building will reduce deferred maintenance across campus.
Mayville requested $1,750,000 for market-based employee cost-of-living and retention adjustments; Van Horn displayed internal comparisons showing Mayville’s faculty pay averages were roughly 33% below the North Dakota University System median and staff pay about 18% below the system median, producing a collective market gap the campus wants to close to recruit and retain employees.
Amber Hill, Mayville’s vice president for business affairs, described a $1,300,000 campus-security project to improve pedestrian lighting, expand camera and server recording capacity, and deploy electronic access control so the campus can lock down corridors quickly in emergencies. “We don't have a police force. We don't have an on-campus security office,” Hill said; the proposal would add modern monitoring and access-control capabilities and improve life-safety infrastructure.
Van Horn also asked the committee to restore the 3% restoration OMB cut and to include an inflation adjustment in the systemwide budget. He argued that, for a small-campus environment, pay competitiveness and life-safety investments were essential to sustain enrollment gains and to operate the Old Main facility efficiently.
Ending: Mayville left the committee with a request for the Old Main finishing funds, market-adjustment dollars, a campus-security investment and an inflationary restoration; the university stressed Old Main’s expected impact on deferred maintenance and operational efficiency.
