State Higher Education Facility Planning Process Is Designed Reasonably Well; Current Formulas May Inaccurately Portray Projected Needs, Report No. 06-30, March 2006
 

The state’s current processes to select and fund higher education facility construction projects include multiple levels of review and ensure that institutional requests for new construction are coordinated with the state’s higher education goals, local strategic plans, and community development plans.

However, the effectiveness of the planning process is dependent on the information provided by the institutions to their respective state-level divisions to determine the state’s most critical facility needs. As the facility planning process relies heavily on each institution’s educational plant survey to identify and prioritize higher education facility needs, it is important that the information contained in these assessments is correct. The reliability and accuracy of information contained in these surveys could be improved by addressing two issues.

• The Department of Education and Board of Governors should update the formulas used to develop educational plant surveys to ensure they accurately portray current institutional need for additional facility space.
• The department and the Board of Governors should provide additional technical assistance to some institutions to address common errors in educational plant surveys.

Which Government Program Summaries contain related information?

State University System
Florida College System
Educational Facilities
Board of Governors

What other OPPAGA-related materials are available?

• Report No. 09-25 More State Direction Could Increase the Utilization of Higher Education Classrooms,published in April 2009.
• Report No. 06-31 Higher Education Facility Construction Costs Are Reasonable; Some Improvements Could Maximize Use of Campus Classroom Space, published in March 2006.

Copies of this report in print or alternate accessible format may be obtained by telephone (850/488-0021), by FAX (850/487-9213), in person, or by mail (OPPAGA Report Production, Claude Pepper Building, Room 312, 111 W. Madison St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-1475).
e-mail address: oppaga@oppaga.fl.gov