The purpose of this phase is to secure the necessary
university and State approvals required by statute to finance a
capital construction project. Two general approval tracks
are required, one for the program plan and one for the Capital Construction
Request. These approvals frequently happen concurrently on
an annual basis beginning in March. This phase typically lasts
fourteen months and may be repeated multiple times if multi-year
funding is required or if a proposal is not funded in the current
request year.
Expedited projects, generally auxiliary enterprises, may enter
the process at anytime and generally take about six months to secure
approvals.
No project may expend funds until the necessary approvals have
been secured from the Board of Regents, CCHE, and the State of Colorado
Legislature.
Prerequisites
No major capital construciton project can move forward until a
program plan has been written, reviewed by the various campus committees,
and submitted to the Chancellor for approval. The Chancellor
will make the final determination on whether a program plan should
be submitted to the Board and CCHE for approval.
Outline of the Required Steps
There are 12 steps to this phase of the project:
Program Plan Approvals
Step 1: CPC Briefing
What is required? The Vice Chancellor for Administration
will brief the Board of Regents' Capital Planning Committee on the
proposed project not less than 30 days prior to when the Board is
scheduled to take action on a project. For major captial construction
projects, this is typically at the April Regent Committee meeting.
Who to see? The Vice Chancellor for Administration
may request a briefing or tour of the project to better prepare
for the presentation.
What will happen? The Vice Chancellor for Administration
will give quick overview of the project to the Board of Regents,
who may ask questions about the project. Occassionally,
the board asks for additional information that is then included
in the action item when submitted the next month.
Step 2: Program Plan Approval by
the Board of Regents
The program plan must be approved by the Board of Regents.
What is required? CRS 23-1-106 requires taht the Colorado
Commission on Higher Education act on program plans formally approved
by governing boards. For CU, The Board of Regents must approve
the program plans prior to CCHE's review.
Who to see? Facilties Planning will prepare the Regent
Action Item and send it to the Vice Chancellor for Administration
to be included in the appropriate Regent agenda packet. The
Treasurer will prepare a financial summary and action item in parallel
with the program plan.
What will happen? The agenda item will be incorporated
into the Regent's packet. This will include the budget page
and the executive summary describing the project. A separate
package will be prepared by the Treasurer describing the funding
mechanism and any debt that may be associated with the project.
In most cases, the Board of Regents passes the resolution approving
the program plan.
Facilities Planning also sends a copy of the program plan as a
"Draft" to the CU System's Budget Director for forwarding
to CCHE staff so that they may begin their review prior to action
by the Regents.
Step 3: Program Plan Approval by
CCHE
The program plan will be approved by the Colorado Commission on
Higher Education after review by CCHE staff.
What is required? C.R.S. 2-3-1304.6 requires that
CCHE approve a program plan before the Legislature can act upon
a funding request for a major capital construction project.
Who to see? Approval at CCHE is handled by the CU
System.
What will happen? CCHE staff will review the program
plan and develop a question list that is often returned to the campus.
Facilities Planning staff will coordinate answers from the appropriate
parties and submit back to CU System and CCHE. CCHE staff
will write a summary of the project and make a recommendation for
approval or denial. The full commission will then consider
the proposal and take action. Most projects that do not require
CCFE funds pass. Those asking for State CCFE monies have a
more difficult time.
Capital Construction Request
The following steps generally occur on parallel approval track
to the program plan approval.
Step 4: Campus Prioritization
of Capital Construction Projects
BCPC and CEC make recommendations to the Chancellor on the priority
order for projects requesting State CCFE funds. Cash funded
projects are generally not prioritized, however CCHE began requesting
CFE prioritization in 2004.
What is required? The BCPC By-laws require a public
meeting in March to discuss the prioritization of capital projects.
this information is generally forwarded to the CEC for consideration
at the March meeting.
Who to see? The Project Client should plan on making
a presentation to the BCPC at the March meeting.
What will happen? Facilities Planning will prepare
a draft ranking based on the ranking of projects from the previous
year. Clients for all projects will then make presentations
regarding the importance of their project. The BCPC will then
discuss and make amendments to the draft list, taking a final vote
to establish the list.
This list is forwarded to CEC who may make changes to the rankings
based on information available to members. There is generally
some changes through this process. CEC then sends the final
campus prioritization list to the Chancellor. Generally, the
Chancellor has accepted the list as recommended by CEC.
Step 5: Preparation of the Five-year
CIP
Facilities Planning updates the Five-year Capital Improvements
Plan (CIP) based on the recommended priority.
What is required? C.R.S. 23-1-106 requires that each
institution submit a five-year capital improvements plan.
CCHE policy requires that projects be listed on the plan at least
one year in advance of a capital construction request.
Who to see? Facilities Planning prepares the CIP and
coordinates with campus and CU System offices.
What will happen? Facilities Planning staff will prepare
the CIP beginning in April. The plan will be reviewed and
amended by campus administrators in May, being forwarded to CU-System
for inclusion in the System Capital Construction Request Submission.
Since the CIP is submitted annually, expedited projects often require
amending a previous CIP
Step 6: Preparation of the Capital
Construction Request
Facilities Planning prepares the forms required for submission
to the State Legislature.
What is required? A Capital Construction Request Form
(Form CC-C) must be completed and submitted to CCHE by July 15.
Projects eligible for the Expedited Process may submit any time
of year.
Who to see? Facilities Planning prepares the CC-C
form.
What will happen? The CC-C forms will be prepared
using information from the program plan. Occassionally, additional
information is needed that must be obtained from the Client program.
This form is then sent to CU System for inclusion in the University
of Colorado capital construction request that includes all the other
projects being submitted for the request year.
Step 7: Approval of the CIP and
Capital Construction Request by the Board of Regents
The Board of Regents approves the capital construction projects
for all campuses and creates a prioritized list of all campus projects.
What is required? The Board of Regents, as the university's
governing board, must submit a five-year CIP, appropriate CC-C forms,
and a ranked list of capital construction projects to CCHE.
Who to see? The CU System's Budget Office Director
prepares the information for the Board of Regents.
What will happen? At the August meeting, the Board
of Regents will act on a package prepared by the Budget Office.
Central staff will draft a priority list of university projects
that may be amended by the board. The results of the board's
actions are then sent to CCHE as the official University of Colorado
capital construction request.
Note that since submission to CCHE is due July 15, but the Board
of Regents do not meet in July, Central submits request as a "draft"
version that is amended based on the actions of the Regents at their
August meeting.
Step 8: Approval of the CIP and
Capital Construction Request by CCHE
What is required? CCHE must submit a coordinated,
ranked list of higher education capital construction projects to
the Capital Development Committee.
Who to see? CU System's Budget Office Director coordinates
all correspondence with CCHE during this step.
What will happen? During July and August, CCHE staff
will review the capital construction requests and create their ranked
list recommendation. This will be acted on at the September
CCHE meeting and may be amended by the commission. The final
ranked list is then forwarded to the CDC.
Occassionally during the month of August, CCHE staff will submit
questions that must be responded to on a tight time frame.
Facilities Planning usually coordinates the campus response to these
questions.
Step 9: Approval by the CDC
This step is iterative with the next step as OSPB adjusts revenue
predictions for the upcoming fiscal year.
What is required? The Capital Development Committee
must submit to the Joint Budget Committee a list of capital construction
recommendations based on available capital construction funds.
Who to see? CU System's Budget Office Director coordinates
all correspondence with the CDC during this step.
What will happen? During October, CDC staff will review
and comment on the capital construction requests using the CC-C
form. They will generate questions on the projects that are
then sent to each campus. Facilities Planning coordinates
the campus responses to these questions, which usually requires
a two or three day turn-around.
CDC staff then prepares a list of capital projects that should
be funded based on OSPB's available revenue forecast produced in
October. The CDC then holds hearings in November where the
President and the Chancellor may testify in support of the request.
A Client may also be asked to attend the hearings and speak on behalf
of the project, particularly on large capital construction projects.
The CDC will then create a list of statewide capital projects to
be funded that is sent to the JBC for inclusion in the Long Bill.
Projects with low rankings may fall below the anticipated revenue
line and are eliminated from further consideration.
Step 10: Approval by the JBC
The Joint Budget Committee prioritizes all expenditures to be made
by the state government in the upcoming fiscal year. It may
refer projects back to the CDC if revenue projections in February
change the amount of funds that are anticipated.
What is required? The JBC will hold hearings and write
a funding bill (the Long Bill) that will fund government during
the upcoming fiscal year.
Who to see? CU System's Budget Office Director coordinates
all correspondence with the JBC during this step.
What will happen? During February and March, the JBC
will consider all capital construction projects. They will
then hold hearings where top CU administrators will testify on behalf
of CU projects. A Client may be asked to attend or speak at
these hearings, particularly for large projects.
The JBC then issues the Long Bill which move to the Legislature
for consideration.
Step 11: Long Bill Legislation
The full legislature must pass the funding bill for State government.
What is required? A majority vote in favor of funding
the State government is needed.
Who to see? CU System's President's Office Director
coordinates all correspondence with the Legislature during this
step.
What will happen? The Long Bill will move out of committee
and into party caucuses. It is unlikely, but possible, that
a project could be cut by a party caucus. The Long Bill is then
voted on by the entire House and Senate. Once passed, it goes
to the Governor's office for signature.
Step 12: Governor's Signature
What is required? The Governor must sign the Long
Bill as the last step of enacting the legislation.
Who to see? CU System's President's Office Director
coordinates all correspondence with the Governor during this step.
What will happen? The Governor could take one of three
actions on the Long Bill -- sign into law, veto, or line item veto
out a project not to his liking. |
