New housing master plan approved at improper time
Despite the current budget crisis, the Ohio University Board of Trustees approved a 10-year housing master plan at its Friday meeting.
Although the financial aspect of the plan has not yet been approved, the project is expected to cost $281 million and could plunge OU $190 million into debt. Now is not the time to add more budgetary obstacles.
The university already has $480 million in backlog maintenance, but now administrators want to renovate 60 percent of the housing on campus and add 2,058 beds as well as some new buildings. Their reasons for the plan are to increase housing quality to make the university more attractive to prospective students.
Touting the “student experience,” administrators believe the housing plan is necessary. But the university needs to remember that the most essential part of the “student experience” at any higher education institution is the academics.
What kind of message is the university sending when the Board of Trustees approves a faculty and staff buyout program and then approves an ambitious building project the same day? It seems as if professors are expendable but new housing is essential. We think it should be the opposite.
We understand that administrators’ hearts are in the right place trying to improve students’ housing, but they need to think about their wallets. This plan should not have been approved without a good idea of how it would be funded. It is rather unsettling that the university is moving forward with both the buyout plans and this housing plan without a set strategy to cover the potential costs.
Vice President for Student Affairs Kent Smith mentioned financing the project by purchasing bonds because bond rates are relatively high right now and this is a perfect time to build. In a vacuum, yes it is the right time. Everything he said about bond rates is correct, but at this point the debt we’d go into in the short-term could cripple OU and the high yields might come too late.
We understand the need for this plan. We would just prefer administrators be wary of undertaking such an endeavor. OU should wait until it is financially sound before taking on such a potentially highly expensive project.
Editorials represent the majority view of The Post's executive editors.
