3:23 p.m., Nov. 13, 2009----The recent acquisition of the Chrysler property in Newark and funding requests for the renovation of Alison Hall topped the items discussed by University of Delaware President Patrick Harker as he presented the University's 2011 operating budget to members of the governor's executive staff in Dover on Friday, Nov. 13.

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“As you know, yesterday, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court accepted UD's purchase bid on the property formerly owned by the Chrysler Corp., and we're truly grateful for the strong support offered by Gov. [Jack] Markell, the Department of Transportation and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control,” Harker said. “This is a watershed moment for UD and for Delaware.”

As the single largest land addition to the Newark campus in UD's history, the 272-plus acre site comprises 22 percent of the University's total footprint.

The property also represents enormous opportunities for economic development though expanded research collaborations in areas including energy and environmental technologies, health sciences, and the incubation and proliferation of businesses based on them, Harker said.

“The site could house several University research centers and institutes, and accommodate our quickly growing partnership with the Army at Aberdeen Proving Ground,” Harker said. “This focus on expanded partnerships, especially the one with Aberdeen Proving Ground, makes transit-oriented development not only desirable, but critical.”

With settlement on the Chrysler site slated for later this month, Harker said the University was working with demolition and decommissioning experts and the City of Newark to winterize the site.

“We're sensitive to restoration and recycling issues and to best-use development,” Harker said. “We hope to bring back the Silver Brook stream running underneath the plant, and we plan on maximizing green space throughout the campus.”

Capital budget

Major requests in the University's FY 2011 capital budget include funding to renovate Alison Hall, and to renew and renovate academic buildings, Harker said.

Also included in the capital budget request are investment in equipment and facilities related to alternative energy technologies, human health, complex environmental systems and nanotechnology. The University has 3.2 million square feet of academic buildings, 35 percent of which were constructed before 1960. State funding will be matched by UD sources and will assist the University in keeping its academic plant current and in good repair.

Before making these specific budget requests, Harker noted that the University remains a popular choice for in-state and out-of-state students.

“Last spring, we received nearly 25,000 applications for admissions, and this fall, we enrolled on the Newark campus the largest freshman class in UD's history, 3,819 students, an 8.4 percent climb over 2008,” Harker said. “We saw an even bigger jump in the number of in-state students enrolled, with 1,204 Delawareans enrolled in fall 2009 versus 962 last year, a 25 percent increase.”

A strong contributor to this increase, Harker noted, is UD's Commitment to Delawareans, a key support to Delaware First, the leading principle in UD's Path to Prominence^TM strategic plan.

“Delaware First is our promise to ensure that every Delawarean has access to a top-quality education, and that we'll apply the University's strengths and resources to benefit the greater Delaware community,” Harker said. “Taking care of the community is important to any University, but to a land-grant institution like UD, it's something of a contract.”

Besides admitting a higher percentage of college-bound in-state residents than any other flagship public university in the region, UD also began meeting the full demonstrated financial need of incoming freshmen and capping their debt upon graduation.

“This year, 435 freshmen have received assistance through the program, and UD's financial aid budget has risen to nearly $41 million, up from $37.4 million last year,” Harker said. “The state's contribution to that total comprises nearly 25 percent, but as UD's aid budget rises and the state's contribution remains constant, we expect this contribution to decrease to about 19 percent by FY 2013.”

The Commitment to Delawareans and increased financial aid complement the University's commitment to research excellence, Harker said.

“Total external research expenditures topped $163 million last fiscal year, a 16 percent increase from FY 2005,” Harker said. “Since April, the University has won $52.7 million in stimulus grants, from 54 funded research proposals.”

Proposals include a $4.4 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to lead development of next-generation high-performance magnets, as well as a $17.4 million award in May that will allow UD to focus on new technologies for the efficient catalytic conversion of biomass, like grasses and trees, into chemicals, electricity and fuels, Harker said.

Additional research initiatives in environmental leadership and health sciences include:

• The launching of the Delaware Environmental Institute;
• Signing an agreement with Gamesa Co. to install a 2- megawatt wind turbine on UD's Lewes campus, with enough potential to power that campus and perhaps portions of the surrounding community; and
• The Delaware Health Sciences Alliance partnership announced in March 2009 that includes UD, Thomas Jefferson University, Christiana Care and Nemours.

Harker also noted that while the University's FY 2011 budget request collapses many individual projects into seven college-based projects, UD is making every effort to drive down mandatory costs by re-engineering programs and streamlining operations.

The University also has a new budget distribution model, Responsibility-Based Budgeting, a move which decentralizes budget responsibilities to the seven colleges, Harker said.

“Given the state's challenging financial picture, we're not asking for any growth in last year's operating budget,” Harker said. “We understand the state's financial constraints and challenges. We thank you for your support and we look forward to working with you on the University's FY 2011 budget.”

Article by Jerry Rhodes