The Finance and Operations Committee approved the President’s recommended six‑year capital plan for 2026–2031 and the University’s 2026 state capital request.

President Joan Gabel Cunningham (identified in the transcript as President Cunningham) and Executive Vice President Greg Goldman framed the plan as a response to the university’s long‑term maintenance backlog — described in the meeting as “nearly $6,000,000,000” — and the need for a predictable, sustainable funding approach. Goldman said the capital investment initiative outlined in the plan would secure up to $750 million in dedicated funding over the next decade by using recurring commitments from the operating budget to borrow for critical facility renewal.

Vice President Alice Roberts Davis gave the committee a project overview. The 2026 state capital request will again prioritize HEAPR (Higher Education Asset Preservation and Replacement). Additional 2026 requests include support for a new St. Paul Campus Center (a proposed roughly 98,000‑square‑foot facility combining student union activities, study and event spaces, retail, recreation and student health services, and a Saint Paul campus library) and a dentistry clinical renovation that will renovate portions of Moos Tower to support education and clinical care for the state’s dental workforce; the dentistry renovation aims to improve the patient experience for more than 90,000 patients who visit Moos Tower each year and to advance education where the school trains more than 70% of Minnesota dentists, according to the presentation.

Roberts Davis said the plan also lists projects in development and projects under consideration systemwide, including the Large Lakes Observatory at the University of Minnesota Duluth and space consolidation and decommissioning on the Twin Cities campus. Senior leaders told the committee they will use newly created capital investment initiative funds to advance planning and enable more predictable project sequencing.

Committee members who toured St. Paul campus facilities emphasized the need to replace the existing St. Paul Campus Center and McGrath Library; Regent Tad Johnson called the campus “one of our crown jewels” and said legislators will be invited to campus tours beginning Oct. 21. The motion to approve the six‑year plan and the 2026 state request passed by voice vote.