Universities have billions of dollars in deferred-maintenance needs, such as roof replacements.
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For universities that want to quickly erase costs for building repairs and renovations, Elaine Frisbie has some advice.
“The fastest way to get rid of your deferred-maintenance backlog is to tear down a building,” said Frisbie, vice president for finance and administration at the Kansas Board of Regents. The six universities the board governs “have managed to get rid of $123 million in deferred maintenance just from that,” she said. As an added bonus, it also reduces operating costs.
Frisbie spoke last week during a panel at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association’s Higher Ed Policy Conference in Chicago. The session delved into how states approach deferred maintenance, a problem panelists described as “ballooning” and ready to explode.
