University of Missouri System Curators approve five-year building plan for campuses

ROLLA — A five-year building plan including the first phase of the NextGen MU Research Reactor and a new engineering and applied sciences building on the central campus received approval Thursday by the University of Missouri System Board of Curators.

The meeting was at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.

"It's really a rolling five-year plan," said Ryan Rapp, executive vice president for finance. "It allows our development teams to fundraise for those projects."

A new, $150 million engineering and applied sciences building is in the plan. It is to be located north of Lafferre Hall on Sixth Street, the former locations of the demolished Parker Hall, Noyes Hall and the old student health building. The new building will include laboratory research space, offices and support functions and services.

The building will allow MU to hire more engineering faculty, said Mun Choi, system president and MU chancellor, during the post-meeting news conference.

"We need to train more engineers in the state," Choi said.

The board will consider project approval in September, Rapp said after the meeting. Completion is expected before December 2026.

The state will fund $100 million of the cost, with private donations funding the other $50 million.

Phase 1 of the new NextGen MU Research Reactor is in the plan for this year, with a cost of $36 million. The first phase will be financed with $20 million in federal funds and $16 million in state funds.

It's an important project, Choi said in his report to the board.

The existing research reactor produces radioactive compounds that provide targeted radiation doses to kill tumors.

"This is a really exciting technology," Choi said.

MU's location in the middle of the country is ideal for shipping radioisotopes around the United States and around the world.

"Because of the success of projects like this, we need to be on the forefront of this technology," Choi said.

The products can't be outsourced, because the effectiveness of the radioisotopes decay rapidly. They have to be produced continuously, Choi said.

"This is truly a unique opportunity for Missouri," Choi said.

It will generate revenue for MU, he said.

"In addition to that, we'll be saving lives," Choi said.

Officials will review proposals over the next year or so, he said.

The project is a long-term one, potentially taking eight to 10 years to reach completion and costing as much as $1 billion total, Choi said in the news conference.

"It's a major investment," Choi said.

The plan for 2024 is a new, $35 million radioisotope processing building at Discovery Ridge. The 33,000-square-foot building will include spaces for processing, research, waste storage, shipping and receiving, conferences, classrooms and offices. The project will be funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

It could come about in the next three years, Choi said during the news conference.

The project shows that the Department of Energy recognizes the importance of the work done at MU, Choi said.

The board has previously given initial approval to many of the projects.

A new Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment building also is planned to start this year. It has a construction cost of $55 million.

Starting this year is an $8 million addition to the National Swine Resource and Research Center, a $5 million addition to the South Farm Swine Research and Education Facility and a $7.5 million addition to the Middlebush Farm NextGen Center for Influenza Research.

In year four of the five-year plan, 2027, is $66 million for MU Health Care campus consolidation and expansion of inpatient services.

Among other projects, the plan includes $10 million for decommissioning and mitigation of Pickard Hall in 2024. Built in 1892, the building once housed radioactive materials. It has been unused since 2013.

Another $10 million is in the plan for demolition of Mizzou North.

A $51 million renovation of the Medical Science Building is in the plan for this year. The first phase of the project will renovate select areas with some of the most imminent needs of work, to create 62,000 square feet of flexible, collaborative research space.

Test-optional admissions extended

The board approved extending test-optional admission for undergraduate students for another year. The practice has been in place since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All public universities in Missouri continue to have test-optional admissions for undergraduates, said John Middleton, executive vice president for academic affairs.

"We're in a very competitive marketplace," Middleton said.

Even with the test-optional admission, 70% of prospective students submit their test scores, Middleton said.

It hasn't been decided if the decision will be made year by year, Choi said.

Enrollment managers made the recommendation, he said.

"They are looking at the landscape of enrollment," Choi said.

S&T campus highlights

Missouri S&T is trying to improve student retention, Chancellor Mo Dehghani said.

"We've historically had high attrition between first and second year," Dehghani said.

Retention has been around 80% in the past. As of now, it's 87.3%.

"We have a goal of getting to 92%," Dehghani said. "My goal is getting to 95%."

The average starting salary of graduates is $72,600, Dehgani said. Graduates receive an average 6.8 job offers.

"There's always a waiting list for companies to come to recruit here," he said.

The New York Times recently ranked S&T eighth for high earnings potential with low tuition and second for high earnings potential without a high-grade point average, he said.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: UM System Board of Curators approves ambitious five-year building plan