December 6, 2021
The Evolving Campus
Episode 2: The risks of deferred maintenance

Colleges are not prioritizing — or cannot afford — deferred maintenance. How can they begin to grapple with backlogs in the billions?

Scott Carlson, senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education, discusses these issues with Mark Conselyea, vice president of facilities operations and development at Ohio State University, and David K. Sheppard, chief legal officer and chief of staff at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

Listen to Conselyea discuss:

• how to evaluate deferred-maintenance needs (05:28)
• what funding models institutions use to cover costs (07:00)

And to Sheppard explain:

• why the problem of deferred maintenance is so significant at HBCUs (18:28)
• funding prospects to improve the situation at HBCUs (25:20)

Related links:
Chronicle article: "The Betrayal of Historically Black Colleges: For decades, states have been funding their white campuses while starving their Black ones. In Tennessee, that could finally change."
Chronicle article: "No One Likes to Talk About Them, but Deferred-Maintenance Costs Won’t Go Away"
Chronicle article: "How the Campus Crumbles: Colleges Face Challenges From Deferred Maintenance"
Government Accountability Office report: "Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Action Needed to Improve Participation in Education’s HBCU Capital Financing Program"

Host: Scott Carlson
Producer: Carmen Mendoza
Sponsor: Perkins Eastman, whose Learning Futures Project imagines higher ed in 2025.
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