Font Size

content body

The Auburn University Board of Trustees accepted plans at its Sept. 6 meeting to provide new homes or enhance current buildings, improving capabilities for students, faculty, staff and football fans.

The College of Human Sciences received support to establish a new academic and research facility. The need for a solitary building with adequate space to house programming, classes, labs and offices has been apparent to college officials for decades.

The college, housed in Spidle Hall since 1962, has grown so much in the past 20 years, it has expanded into eight buildings across campus.

The most notable sign of recent growth is the establishment of the Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center. The 142,000-square-foot, six-story building not only houses classrooms, labs and offices for the Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management, but also 1856-Culinary Residence and The Laurel Hotel & Spa, both of which offer hands-on educational opportunities for Auburn students.

A new building would permit the college to locate many of its disciplines under one roof.

At its November 2023 meeting, the board authorized the college to commence fundraising and planning for this capital project.

Want to know more about the growth and future of Auburn's College of Human Sciences?

Click here

Move to the Research Park

Auburn’s Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Lab is also seeking more space. Currently housed in the former Bruno’s grocery store building on East Glenn Avenue, a new building would better accommodate the current lab operations and allow for expanded collaborations with private and public sector partners.

In an effort to accommodate the university’s research growth, the Board of Trustees granted permission for the university administration to enter into a lease agreement with the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation (ARTF) to house a research facility in the Auburn Research Park.

Auburn’s RFID Lab focuses on the business case and technical implementation of RFID and other emerging technologies in retail, aviation, defense, supply chain and manufacturing. Moving this work to space in the Park will increase the visibility of the research program and potentially attract other private and public sector research collaborators to locate in the Park.

Auburn will be a tenant in the new facility, and the research projects located in it will pay rent under a lease for the space they occupy.

More updates to Jordan-Hare

The board decided at its June meeting to install a new video board in the north end zone of Jordan-Hare Stadium. But now, Auburn Athletics also plans to construct a multi-use facility there to include premium seating, concessions and stadium support facilities, along with versatile conference event spaces, retail venues, student activity spaces, meeting rooms and future shell space.

The latest board action initiated the project. Facilities Management will now begin the architect selection process. The design and proposed budget will be presented to the board at a later date.

The board accepted improvements for these buildings or spaces as well:

  • Student-athletes will soon have a larger and improved location for sports medicine and training services. Approximately 15,000 square feet of the Athletics Complex will be renovated to house these services, which are currently in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum and the Plainsman Park Strength and Rehabilitation Center. Space in the Watson Fieldhouse will be used to provide team spaces for the volleyball program, which is currently housed in Neville Arena. Athletics will finance the $9 million project. Seay, Seay & Litchfield of Auburn, Alabama, was previously selected as the project architect. 
  • The Caroline Draughon Village laundry facility will be renovated to create a new Recreation and Wellness fieldhouse. Student Affairs proposed utilizing the 2,000-square-foot, one-story building to serve the nearby intramural tennis and pickleball courts. Campus Recreation and Wellness funds will cover the $1.7 million cost. Seay, Seay & Litchfield of Auburn, Alabama, was also previously selected as this project architect. 
  • Phase four of the Village Residence Halls repair and renovation project, which commences next summer, includes flooring, millwork, countertops, mechanical units and furnishings in Plainsman Hall. This is the latest step in the project to renovate all suites in the Village. Since 2020, Matthews, Aubie, Holloway and Talon Halls have been refurbished. 
  • Williams Blackstock Architects of Birmingham, Alabama, will serve as the architect for the project to renovate the Melton Student Center patio. The plan calls for transforming the outdoor area into flexible spaces to improve student life at Auburn, including the addition of audiovisual capabilities for events and gatherings and more than 75 study seats with power outlets. Creating a more energetic and interactive atmosphere for home football gamedays near the campus green will also enhance the gameday experience. 
  • Caldwell Architects of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will serve as the architect for the project to create the Analytical, Innovation and Manufacturing Laboratory in the Brown-Kopel Engineering Student Achievement Center. The plan is to renovate 16,000 square feet of unfinished space beneath the Gavin Garden and construct a lab specifically to foster workforce development, interdisciplinary collaboration and industry-relevant research and innovation aimed broadly at advanced manufacturing. The project will be funded by the state legislature with FY23 supplemental appropriations. 
  • ArchitectureWorks of Birmingham, Alabama, will be the architect for the project to renovate the Rural Studio’s Red Barn in Newbern, Alabama. The project includes renovations to bring the facility up to current building codes and standards and provide adequate studio and lecture space for architecture students in the Rural Studio program.

 

A new degree

The board accepted a proposal to create a degree program for a Doctor of Philosophy in statistics and data science. Offered by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the program is designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding of theoretical and practical aspects of statistics and data science, preparing them for careers in research, academia and equivalent roles in industry or government. The new degree is the first of its kind in Alabama.

Investing in its people

Auburn continues its commitment to investing in its people, allocating $48.1 million of the FY25 budget to cover a 4% merit pool increase for employees, $10.7 million for recruiting high-caliber faculty and administrative positions, funds to provide staff with market-competitive salaries, job family and faculty promotions and other salary adjustments, as well as employee benefits.

Kelli Shomaker, Auburn’s senior vice president for business and administration and chief financial officer, presented a $1.85 billion FY25 budget to the board. The new budget, which begins Oct. 1, covers all four divisions — Auburn, Auburn University at Montgomery, Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station — and represents an increase of $134.9 million, or 7.87%, from FY24.

Auburn takes the largest share between the divisions with $1.58 billion, or 85.9%, of the total budget.

Salaries, wages and employee benefits combined are the largest expenditures, making up 51.4% of the total budget. As for revenue sources, tuition and fees and state appropriations comprise 63.5% of the total budget. Compared to FY24, Auburn will receive $26.9 million more in state appropriations and $46.1 million more in tuition and fees. The budget also reflects increases of $23.4 million in restricted revenues and $21.9 million in auxiliary revenue.

Non-personnel expenses are budgeted to increase by $86.3 million, which includes a $13.6 million increase in student aid. Operations and maintenance expenses are budgeted to increase by $65.6 million from the previous year, including increases in contracts and other mandatory costs in safety and security with the city of Auburn, administrative and academic software, technology infrastructure, property insurance, utility and maintenance costs related to building operations and new campus square footage.

Additionally, trustees accepted proposals to increase tuition and fees for fall 2025 at Auburn and Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM), and housing and dining rates at Auburn.

Shomaker noted that the increase in state appropriations is vital for Auburn, but it does not cover all the rising operational costs of the university. A 3% increase in tuition rates on both campuses, coupled with state appropriations, “will enable Auburn and AUM to maximize the impact of our land-grant mission to provide excellent instruction, life-enhancing research and service to our fellow Alabamians,” she said.

The new rate at Auburn would mean a resident undergraduate student will pay an additional $378 per year and a non-resident undergraduate student about $1,050 more. At AUM, the increase would have a resident undergraduate paying about $330 more per year and a non-resident undergraduate around $750 more per year.

Auburn University Housing sought a 3% increase as well, similarly requesting the funding to provide adequate funds for renovation and deferred maintenance projects and to continue to provide the best possible campus living experience for Auburn students, Shomaker said. AUM did not request a housing rate increase for fall 2025.

Tiger Dining requested a 3% increase in dining hall rates specifically to address the inflationary costs of food supplies. The increase will impact students who live on or off campus in fall 2025. AUM did not request any increase for its students.