Iowa State’s Facilities Planning and Management Department’s annual report shows that ISU falls significantly below national norms in routine maintenance funding.

Research of 32 institutions of higher education in 1994 found that ISU’s funding of routine maintenance was slightly more than half of the mean expenditure.

The mean expenditure was $1.22 per gross square foot of existing building space. ISU’s expenditure was at $0.69 per gross square foot, close to the minimum at $0.61.

Only five universities reported expenditures below Iowa State.

“We are far below the norm on daily maintenance,” said Gary Reynolds, director of facilities management.

Low funding of routine or normal maintenance will eventually lead to a larger backlog in the university’s deferred maintenance, he said. “The music building is a good example.”

Music faculty members have expressed their displeasure with university officials for not repairing the building’s roof that prompted students one day to wear raincoats to class.

Daily or routine maintenance is the day-to-day work done to control deterioration of existing university facilities such as pavements, systems and equipment.

The lack of daily maintenance of the music building roof created the large holes that are there now, Reynolds said.

“Facilities are not lasting to their normal span because of low funding of routine maintenance,” he said.

Because adequate daily maintenance is not done, the cost of capital renewal will be more than 1.5 percent of the total value of ISU’s facilities.

Capital renewal is the the replacement of worn-out components of an organization’s facilities at the end of their useful life, said Lynn Seiler, associate director for facilities planning. This includes buildings, utilities and equipment.

Capital renewal projects that have been postponed are then categorized under deferred maintenance.

“1.5 to 2 percent is the nationally recognized standard of expense for addressing deferred maintenance,” Reynolds said. ISU’s replacement value is $900 million, meaning it should be spending $13.5 million on capital renewal.

The university has planned an expenditure of about $12.8 million on deferred maintenance for the 1996 fiscal year.

“Deferred maintenance is the money the university has to spend to catch up. Routine maintenance is the money it has to spend to keep up,” Reynolds said. “The university is doing better at catching up, but not good at keeping up.”

ISU currently has a backlog in deferred maintenance of $26.2 million. Seiler said this amount does not include a major deferred maintenance project in Gilman Hall which costs $7.2 million.

The university also has facilities alteration demands that it has to address. These demands arise from changes in facilities regulations and facilities improvement needs, and will cost the university about another two percent ($18 million) of its overall value, Reynolds said.

“The university does not have money to spend on that percentage,” he said.

Warren Madden, ISU’s vice president for business and finance, said the university has asked for increased support from the state.

“In the last several years the legislature has not put money on a maintenance budget,” Madden said. “But we have received $2 million for fire safety alterations and a number of repairs.”

The university could also reallocate its resources to deal with the issue, Madden said. “The question is where to reallocate from.”