New biosciences building good idea for education, should not come from university funds


The Michigan Legislature’s $30 million allocation to the university for a biosciences building will compliment the existing academic programs and enhance the educational experience for students.

The new building would also be a very timely addition since costly structural problems continue to develop in Brooks Hall, and the number of signed science-related majors have spiked at CMU since approval of the College of Medicine.

This building will reportedly house research and lab rooms, and teaching facilities for biotechnology and medical classes, which the campus currently lacks.

The fight to attract qualified candidates from the college-bound pool among the state’s 15 public universities grows fiercer every year; adding this biosciences building with its proposed amenities would give CMU an advantage in the recruiting season to maintain record enrollment numbers.

But while planning the $65-million project, university officials must be sensitive to CMU’s financial status and to the shrinking number of on-campus housing options available for students.

The trustees must take great precaution to avoid financing the $35 million balance with university funds. It would be inexcusable to budget such a financial commitment — even over the course of many years through bonds — when hundreds of university employees have been subject to pay freezes and the tuition rate is at an all-time high.

Crippling students with an augmented tuition bill to finance another construction project on campus would be unwise in the state’s current economic state, especially since CMU ranks $3,747 above the national median when it comes to annual tuition rates, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

CMU has the fifth highest rate of in-state tuition and fees among Michigan’s four-year public universities at $10,380 per year.

Increasing the tuition rate to finance more capital projects at CMU could influence potential students to attend a more-affordable university more than fancy buildings could attract them, effectively rendering a new academic building with a daunting price tag useless.

Financing this new project, therefore, should come from private donations.

And since preliminary plans call for the demolition of the remaining Washington Apartments to make room for the biosciences building, the board of trustees should support building additional graduate housing on north campus if presented with design plans at the February meeting.

Constructing an affordable academic building to enhance the educational scope of CMU, while concurrently providing additional on-campus living quarters to satiate the demand of the growing student body should be the ultimate goal of university officials throughout this endeavor.

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