The University Record, June 5, 1995
REGENTS’ ROUNDUP
Editor’s Note: The Regents took the following actions at their May meeting.
$9.6 million in gifts accepted
The Regents accepted $9,660,781 in gifts received during April.
The total included $6,424,455 from individuals, $1,376,120 from corporations, $1,423,687 from foundations and $436,519 from associations and others.
3 get administrative apointments
Administrative appointments included:
George J. Brewer, professor of human genetics and of internal medicine, will continue to serve as acting chair of the Department of Human Genetics, effective May 1-July 31.
Brian Rowan, professor of education and acting associate dean of the School of Education, will serve as associate dean in the School for a three-year term beginning July 1.
Susan S. Boehm, associate professor of nursing, will serve as interim associate dean for student affairs in the School of Nursing for a one-year term, effective July 1.
Med Sci I remodeling OK’d
At their May meeting, the Regents approved the proposed infrastructure and laboratory remodeling project for the Medical Science Building I-A Wing.
“This project will continue the Medical School’s efforts to upgrade Medical Science I Building to contemporary biomedical research facility standards,” U-M Executive Vice President Farris W. Womack said.
“The remodeling will provide new casework, new finishes, and new fixed equipment. The building infrastructure will also be upgraded to support the refurbished labs, previously remodeled areas and future needs.
“New systems will include a central exhaust system, electrical risers to the penthouse, fire pump, fire alarm system and emergency lighting.”
The project is estimated to cost $9,700,000.
North Campus Bell Tower contract awarded
The Regents awarded a $3,879,000 construction contract for the proposed North Campus Bell Tower.
The low bidder is Ellis-Don Michigan Inc. of Bloomfield Hills.
“The Bell Tower has been designed with the intent of creating a significant landmark that will greatly enhance the character of the North Campus for the next century,” said Executive Vice President Farris W. Womack.
“With the placement of both the new Integrated Technology Instruction Center and the new Engineering Center, a North Campus ‘Diag’ evolves that will be bordered on all sides with the exception of the west. The Bell Tower, approximately 160 feet tall, will be placed on the west edge of this Diag.”
Charles W. Moore, leading international architect and U-M alumnus, completed the design for the tower shortly before his death in December 1993.
The Regents also revised the budget for the tower project, from $4,300,000 to $5,275,000. Funding for the project will be provided from gifts.
U to purchase, expand Williamsburg properties
The Regents approved the proposed purchase and expansion of the Williamsburg properties near the Briarwood Mall as part of the Medical Center’s long-term commitment to provide high-quality, cost-effective health care in the community.
Major elements in the proposal include the acquisition of the five medical office buildings at a price of $9,875,000 and the acquisition of a lot including the two buildings to be constructed at a cost of $2,800,000.
The Medical Center now leases either all or the major portion of the five buildings, said Executive Vice President Farris W. Womack and John D. Forsyth, executive director of the Hospitals. “Briarwood Family Practice, located in one of the buildings, has been closed to new patients since April 1993 due to space constraints.
“Although a federal health care reform plan has yet to materialize, significant changes in the marketplace already have taken place. Clearly, the movement toward managed care is continuing, and cost–without sacrificing quality–is the impetus. The American College of Health Care Executives believes that primary care physician networks, comprised of outpatient treatment settings, will be the cornerstone of the new health care system. “Satellite centers, like the Williamsburg properties, provide better access for patients and help create a seamless health care delivery system in a low-cost setting. Over 70,000 patient visits occur at the Williamsburg site annually.”
Womack and Forsyth noted that the University has carefully considered a number of issues and alternatives before presenting the proposal to the Regents. “First of all, purchase costs would match lease payments for these sites in just 11 years. Since the Medical Center intends to make a long-term commitment to servicing residents in this part of Washtenaw County, it seems far more prudent to have those payments result in an asset,” they said.
“Purchasing the existing facilities is also far more efficient than constructing new. The present value for the expected purchase outlay over the next 11 years is only two-thirds of the cost that would have been incurred had the University chosen to construct new facilities.”
Officials noted that “if we are not successful in patient care in the long run, we will not be successful in education and research. We have read the stories of our peer institutions that reveal the scope of change and the particular adverse consequences for academic medical centers that do not adapt.
“In order to control the rapidly increasing costs of medical care, it is essential that we prioritize our expenditures and manage our assets as efficiently as possible.”
Renovation projects OK’d
The Regents approved the following building renovation projects:
• The Medical Center has identified a location for the Outpatient Dialysis Program and plans to renovate 6,700 gross square feet of existing leased space. The Medical Center currently leases this space along with space for its Livonia Surgery Center in the same facility, located on Haggerty Road between Seven and Eight Mile roads. Estimated cost of this project is $1,750,000.
• The operating room suites in the University Hospital have experienced much wear and tear since the opening of the building in 1986. A project to install significant areas of wall protection, new corner guards and replacement doors throughout the suite will cost an estimated $500,000.
• “When the Integrated Technology Instruction Center (ITIC) was being designed, approvals were provided to enlarge a partial basement to a full basement for the opportunity to accommodate future program requirements. The space is being constructed as shelled space.
“It is now proposed to finish the basement space to accommodate the Art and Architecture Library within the ITIC facility,” said Executive Vice President Farris W. Womack. “This would decompress the existing Art and Architecture Library and at the same time provide efficiencies to be gained for staffing of the combine libraries.” The project is estimated to cost $1.9 million.
• During the development of the design for the Law Library Rare Book Room, the Law School saw an opportunity to renovate a portion of the existing Library to provide a faculty publications/display area that would provide a better visual transition from the library’s main circulation area to the new Rare Book Room’s Exhibit/Reader space. With the described scope modification, the project is estimated to cost $625,000, an increase of $125,000.
• The Legal Research Stack Building does not meet today’s fire safety standards. A project estimated to cost $1.5 million will implement a number of corrective measures, materially improving the life safety conditions in the building.
• The Willard Henry Dow Laboratory includes a limited amount of laboratory space for future faculty recruitments by the Department of Chemistry. The department has been successful in its recruitment efforts and will finish a block of space on the fourth floor for laboratories and support services. The project’s estimated cost is $600,000.
• As a result of regulatory agency requirements, the Department of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health (OSEH) requires additional space in the North Campus Waste Transfer Facility.
“When the facility was originally constructed, it contained a large incinerator to accommodate burning of all University refuse,” Womack said. “The use of this incinerator was abandoned many years ago but the incinerator was never removed from the building. The incinerator will be removed and a mezzanine installed in the high bay space. The space would then be remodeled to provide badly needed lab, office and storage space for OSEH. The project is estimated to cost $650,000.
• The University has a long-term objective of converting building access from the conventional key lock system to a key card system. A year ago, the Regents approved a car access control system project for the Hospitals in the amount of $800,000.
“In conjunction with the Hospitals’ project,” Womack explained, “we have designed a first-phase pilot project for the Ann Arbor campus consisting of converting several buildings to key card access, at an estimated cost of $1 million. For purposes of standardization and economy of scale, we are proposing to combine the two projects.”
• The Engineering Laboratory Building on the Dearborn campus, constructed in 1959, requires renovations to the foundry and metals processing laboratories and the combustion engines and fuels laboratories to accommodate current and future research activities. Estimated cost is $638,000.
