Higher education facilities regularly receive donations. They receive them for new buildings, for scholarships, for endowments. But they never, ever receive them for deferred maintenance.
Until now.
Hastings College will soon be tackling a backlog of deferred maintenance across its rural Nebraska campus thanks to a $9 million donation specifically directed to facility maintenance, according to Insider Higher Ed.
While donations directed to scholarships or new buildings are ubiquitous across higher education, gifts toward deferred maintenance projects are less common. Of the $9 million gift, $5 million will be spread across campus upkeep over the next five years, while the remainder will go toward Hasting College’s endowment and be placed into a deferred maintenance fund.
The $9 million donation is the largest in the history of the small, private college, according to officials. Hastings College has 1965 graduate Ed Osterman to thank for the $9 million gift.
Hastings College plans to tap into the funds for various updates and upgrades across the 120-acre campus. They include a broad range of potential projects from enhancing accessibility by improving campus pathways and bathrooms to increasing building security to improving energy efficiency.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
