CUNY Master Plan 2012-2016

MISSION PART FOUR
Unlike the 1972 space guidelines, which are a series of formulas contained in a document and used by a limited
few in master plans or major building projects, the new space guidelines will be an interactive electronic
tool for more efficient management of space on the campuses. This tool is expected to be in use by early 2013.
At a more immediate level, from campus to campus the majority of space types are similar; therefore
CUNY takes advantage of its unique five-borough radius when planning renovations and new facilities.
Spaces that function with maximum benefit to the students, faculty or staff are identified and act as models
for future projects. Examples are the LaGuardia Community College Student Information Center and
the Office of Administrative and Information Services at Hunter College. These two sources of enrollment
services have been visited by planning staff from many of the other colleges as examples of how to
make the administrative requirements of attending school easier to navigate.
Additionally, project data are shared through the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) database. CIP is
the tool used by all 24 institutions to request capital projects. It contains the scope, cost estimate, schedule,
justification, and program components of every requested project. CIP allows read-only access by
any CUNY college facilities administrator of another college’s data. This eliminates the need to start
from scratch when one institution is considering a project similar to a project recently completed. Furthermore,
cost estimates, square-footage requirements, and timelines are all better projected when
benchmarked against comparable projects.
Turning to innovative procurement approaches, it is essential first to understand that all CUNY capital
projects are designed by licensed architects and engineers. In order to acquire these professional services,
CUNY has procured design and construction requirement contracts that allow the University and
the colleges to expedite capital projects.
Because CUNY is an integrated university, all 24 institutions are able to benefit from the requirement contracts.
Furthermore, work of a similar nature can be bundled across campuses to achieve scale-of-magnitude
savings and to accelerate necessary improvements. To that end, 14 laboratories at eight campuses will be
upgraded using services and construction provided through the requirement contracts. These upgrades will
support the Decade of Science in a more immediate fashion than the large-scale new science facilities at City,
Brooklyn, Lehman, and Hunter Colleges. The specific scope of work is developed for each laboratory with
input from faculty representing their respective colleges. The fast turnaround for these projects—14 months
from design to construction completion—quickly improves life and morale on the campuses.
The requirement contracts have streamlined CUNY’s ability to meet facilities needs at the colleges.
The requirement contract solicitation resulted in more than 350 responses. The city’s architecture, engineering,
and construction community is very interested in working with CUNY, and this method of
procuring services allows firms to compete fairly for CUNY’s capital projects and provides CUNY with
contracted firms ready to begin working as appropriations are made and are available for expenditure.
Capital Budget
The capital program has two components: 1) The funded 2011-2012 Capital Plan and 2) the 2012-2013
Capital Budget Request. The state provides 100 percent of the capital support for the funding for senior
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