The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors has agreed to tap into a strategic fund to provide additional money for a future building for the School of Engineering on Whitehead Road.
“The Engineering building is in the planning stage,” said J.J. Davis, UVA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “The project estimate is north of $200 million.”
Financing for infrastructure planning at UVA can be tracked through the Major Capital Plan which is approved by the BOV each year. The current document states that there have been $5 million in gifts toward the project which envisions a 60,000 square foot building that would house over 50 faculty researchers and their teams.
A website for the building on the School of Engineering website states that philanthropy will need to cover at least a quarter of the project’s cost.
In October, the School of Engineering announced a $4.5 million partnership with Capital One for a new research center to be constructed in the building.
In 2016, the Board of Visitors created a Strategic Investment Fund “to serve as a funding source for initiatives that have the potential to transform a critical area of knowledge or operation of the University in our continuous pursuit of excellence” according to a staff report.
Davis brought three projects to the BOV’s Finance Committee for their approval of disbursements, including $15 million for the future engineering building. Another is $5 million for a second building to serve the School of Data Science.
“That is a planned five-level facility on the Emmett / that will house the interdisciplinary computational research and serve as a front door for data science driven entrepreneurs across Grounds,” Davis said.
An additional $10 million for that project has already been disbursed through the strategic investment fund. These funds are often used to match private donations.
The third item is a $5 million transfer to the Bicentennial Professorship fund.
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