New York has two large public university systems - the State University of New York (SUNY) and the City University of New York (CUNY). The SUNY system includes 34 senior and technical college campuses around the state and 30 community colleges. The State operates and funds the senior colleges; the community colleges are partly financed by the State and partly financed and governed by counties. The CUNY system includes 11 senior colleges and six community colleges; they share a single governing board, but the senior colleges are financed primarily with State funds while the community colleges are jointly financed by the State and the City of New York.
Both systems have extensive facilities that are old and not well maintained. SUNY has 2,765 buildings within its control: 1,811 general educational facilities, 485 community college buildings, 457 residence halls and 12 hospitals. The infrastructure supporting these buildings includes electrical and steam distribution systems, millions of square feet of parking lots, and 450 athletic fields. The average age of the general educational facilities and community college buildings is over 40 years, and the average age for residence halls is over 30 years.67
In 2007, SUNY undertook a comprehensive review of the condition of facilities at its campuses (excluding the community colleges). The review identified a critical maintenance backlog of $3.2 billion to bring the facilities to a state of good repair, and ongoing maintenance needs of about $400 million annually. A review of community college buildings is ongoing, and it is likely to reveal additional needs totaling billions of dollars.68
The picture is similar for CUNY, which has 293 buildings totaling over 26.1 million square feet in 21 campuses across the city. The average age of the buildings is 57 years, and more than 75 percent of the square footage was built before 1970. CUNY conducted a buildings assessment in 2007 in tandem with the SUNY assessment. It found that $1.7 billion was needed to eliminate its deferred maintenance backlog. The bulk of this, $1.5 billion, is for building system renovations, and the reminder, $200 million, is for renewal of supporting infrastructure. The largest needs are for heating and ventilation systems ($700 million), exterior walls, roofs and windows ($277 million), electrical systems ($164 million), laboratory and similar "built-in" equipment ($114 million) and interior finishes ($77 million). Community colleges represent $516 million of the $1.7 billion total. 69
SUNY and CUNY senior college capital investments for educational facilities typically are funded with State authority bonds backed by State revenues. Community college investments are also funded with authority bonds, generally backed by joint local and state revenues. However, residence halls, which operate on 26 campuses and have 70,967 beds, are usually managed by the State Dormitory Authority and are self-financing with rents and other revenues generated at the facilities.70
PPPs could be used in two ways to help improve the condition of facilities at SUNY and CUNY and keep them in a state of good repair in the future. First, for senior college educational facilities, a PPP could require the private partner to renovate some currently deficient facilities and keep them well maintained for the expected lifecycle. The initial private capital and operating costs would be paid through the availability payment model. The grouping of several facilities with a single private partner would make the project large enough to justify the design and monitoring of a PPP. Senior college facilities may be more suitable than community college facilities because the arrangement could be developed exclusively with the State, as the primary financier and monitor, without the complication of involving multiple county officials.
Second, it may be worthwhile to use a PPP for residential facilities. For these facilities, the private partner could be responsible for collecting rents and generating other revenues, and no availability payment would be necessary. It is likely that PPPs for such facilities would result in greater amenities and innovation in the use of space; for example, there may be convertible spaces or rooms or facilities that can also be rented out for community use. A PPP may also allow for flexibility within the traditional model of how students are charged for room and board and other amenities, potentially providing a value for both students and the colleges. The previously cited dangers of PPPs for facilities with user fees can be avoided in this instance by not seeking any upfront payments, and by having both PPP and Dormitory Authority managed facilities on the same campuses to ensure competition in prices and comparative performance standards.
As with public school buildings, perhaps the greatest challenge for a PPP in higher education is building the capacity for design and oversight by the public partner. One strategy is to establish a single unit with expertise to serve both SUNY and CUNY in establishing PPPs, and to have ongoing evaluation through comparisons with conventionally managed facilities.
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67 The State University of New York. "2008-2009 Operating and Capital Budget Presentation." November 27, 2007. Accessed November 28, 2007. Available online at http://www.suny.edu/files/sunynewsfiles/pdf/budgetpresentation1.pdf
68 New York State Commission on Higher Education. Preliminary Report of Findings and Recommendations. December 2007. Available online at www.hecommission.state.ny.us/report/CHE_Preliminary_Report.pdf.
69 Testimony of Iris Weinshall, Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning, Construction, and Management at The City University of New York, to the New York City Council Infrastructure Taskforce. February 15, 2008.
70 The State University of New York. "2008-2009 Operating and Capital Budget Presentation." November 27, 2007. Accessed November 28, 2007. Available online at http://www.suny.edu/files/sunynewsfiles/pdf/budgetpresentation1.pdf