Universities chase stimulus cash for shovel-ready projects - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The tens of millions of dollars in grant proposals are targetinvg funding streams flowing down throughg the American Recovery andReinvestment Act’s shovel-readh initiatives. Universities faced with consecutive yeare of funding cuts are angling to usethe shovel-readyu cash to catch up on much-needed facilitt upgrades, build classrooms to handle the influx of studentx in need of re-training or tackle big capital projects aimed at bolsterinf academics and research. The approacnh is twofold at , whichy has seen its student population surge by 12 percentr in the pasttwo years, due in part to risinvg unemployment.
The college is seeking $45 millioj to build additional classroom capacity on its three main campuse s as well as to enhance vocational traininyg facilitiesin high-demand occupations, according to Ellymn Drotzer, director of the office of grants The college wants the cash, among other projects, to buil d out its and the Maroonee Automotive Program in Miramar to emphasize curriculu on maintaining and repairing emerging green energy and hybricd systems in boats and It also wants to expand classrooms for aviation training, including a facility to train a new generation of air traffi c controllers, which are expected to be in high deman d in a few years to replace a wave of retiringg controllers, Drotzer said.
“These are all shovelp ready,” she said. “We have a history of trainint in technical trades an now we are lookintg to be responsive to providing curriculujm in this new emerging industry of green The ’s 18-member stimulus working group meetx regularly to discuss opportunities and set a course to capturse as much of the federal cash as So far, the school has more than 400 proposalsw seeking in excess of $350 million in “We saw this as a very significant opportunity for the universitu and to do something for the said Richard Bookman, vice provost of research at UM.
Amony the projects on the school’s shovel-ready wish list is a new $45 seawatet research center at UM’s Rosenstiell School of Marine and Atmospheric Science onVirginia Key, he The university is seeking $15 million from the and $15 million from the to help build the center, which will study sea creatures as well as the physic of waves on structures. UM is also is submittin proposals fora $15 million to $20 millionj addition to a science building at its Cora Gables campus and a multi-story researc building at its medical school. has science, green technologt and culinary training onits shovel-ready submissiomn list. The school is requestin help fundinga $22.
7 million hospitality management cente to house a culinary arts schoopl as well as $40 million for an extensive renovatiomn and upgrade to decades-old facilities at its north campus and $1.2 milliohn for an and Technology. But by most accountsz competition for stimulus funds willbe fierce. And specifivc funding priorities from federal and statre allocatorsbeyond short-term projects that woulf create jobs quickly remains unclear, said Camille assistant VP and interim director of sponsored research at . “Theh are not telling us what they are looking she said. But FAU is seeking $4.
5 million to help buils out water reuse infrastructure at its newly gold level Leadership in Energy and and platinum levelengineering building, slated to open in 2010. The universityt also is seeking federal stimuluds funds to create a road connectod system at its main campuss off Glades Road in Boca Raton andadditionalp parking. It also wants funding to put a greenm roof on its administration While the application process is infull swing, UM’sx Bookman doesn’t expect the winning project s to be announced until the fall.