The Spectator The independent student newspaper of Valdosta State University
Written by Joe Adgie
The new Health Sciences and Business Administration building could sit idle once construction is completed, due to budgetary restrictions.
This was revealed during Friday morning’s Planning and Budget Council meeting, and was classified by Sue Fuciarelli, vice president for Finance and Administration, as a “crying shame.”
The University System of Georgia’s capital budget request for the 2014 Fiscal Year included a request from VSU for $3.8 million dollars to use in furnishing the new HSBA building.
“The proposal was sent to the governor with that included, and the governor’s recommended budget, at this point, took that back out,” Fuciarelli said. “So, we’re in the midst of talking with legislators and talking with the folks at the board office of how we can try to get that back in.”
For the University System of Georgia and its institutions, the 2014 Fiscal Year starts on July 1. The possibility of that $3.8 million being cut out of the budget or being pushed back to the 2015 Fiscal Year, as Fuciarelli mentioned, was cause for dire concern.
“What that would be is from January through July the building would sit idle,” Fuciarelli said. “We don’t have any furniture or equipment to put in the building.”
There was a further concern with the way the funding would be handled and how it would delay matters further.
“Even when July 1 occurs, they may not fund the bonds immediately, so we would have to wait until the bonds actually get funded that year,” Fuciarelli said. “Then you can order the equipment, which would be three to six more months after that, so it literally could be fifteen months sitting there idle.”
The HSBA, currently under construction at North Campus, is a $32 million project slated for completion at the end of the year. The goal of the building is to consolidate several University science programs currently housed in various buildings across campus, including Nursing, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Athletic Training, Exercise Physiology, Social Work and Health Care Administration.
