Tucker Center still lacks funding
By Sarah Krebs
Staff Reporter

The William E. and Jean Jones Tucker Technology Center is one of many newly opened buildings on campus without an endowment to cover operating costs, officials say.

The Tucker Technology Center, University Recreation Center and the Sarah and Steve Smith Entrepreneurs Hall all add to the costs of regular cleaning and upkeep for the entire campus, Vice Chancellor of University Advancement Bronson Davis said.

“In all the building projects we do, we build in an endowment,” Davis said. “Previously we never began construction until we had all the project costs and until we had an endowment, but we felt the technology building was important for student academics and we knew it would cost more to build it if we waited.”

The Tucker Technoloy Center originally started as an engineering building with a fund-raising goal of $8 million from one foundation and then became a technology and engineering building to make the fund-raising pitch easier, which also increased the cost to about $12.2 million, Davis said.

“We met all goals except the endowment and since the project lasted so long, it ran right into the recession and we lost two commitments of $2.5 million,” Davis said.

TCU is working on fund raising primarily for the Entrepreneurs Hall, the recreation center, a basketball practice facility and a number of projects like the Center for Texas Studies, Davis said.

TCU is going forward with development even though it is $6 million short on the Tucker Technology Center, because the university has built the building and absorbed the costs, Davis said.

Jennifer Jewers, a senior mechanical engineering major, said focusing on other areas besides the endowment for the Tucker Technology Center is all right.

“I think all areas of the campus deserve to grow, and since we have the building, they should focus on other academic areas,” Jewers said.

The Tucker Technology Center, including the dean’s office, ended up costing $19 million, Davis said. Out of the $229 million budgeted for 2004, $20.3 million of it goes to general operating costs, utilities and repairs, which will be burdened with the cost of operating the Tucker Technology Center, Davis said.

“It was a very tough process, but we don’t get down to calculating tit-for-tat how we are going to compensate for specific increases in the budget,” Davis said.

To compensate for the increase in budget, TCU instituted a 7.9 percent tuition increase and each vice chancellor implemented a 1 percent budget cut, Davis said.

Chancellor Michael Ferrari said the construction costs have been met, but that it is always more challenging to raise money for an endowment for the building.

“We’ve been trying to raise an additional sum, about 20 percent of construction costs, for a new facility to help meet these costs through a special endowment,” Ferrari said.

Most buildings do not have an endowment, which puts pressure on the general operating budget that pays for heating, lighting, cooling, cleaning and general up-keep, Davis said.

“If you see the building standing there, we obviously built it,” Davis said. “We’re not going to stop cleaning buildings just because they don’t have an endowment.”

s.d.krebs@tcu.edu