Rick Trefzer, assistant vice president for finance and administration, said funding of the main building included two parts: $30 million that covered the cost of the construction of the building and $10 million that went to the planning, furniture, fixtures and equipment.
Trefzer provided a break down of cost highlights for the first completed building on Main Campus:
- $3 million for movable furniture such as desks, tables and chairs,
- $290,000 for a new phone system at the two campuses,
- $464,000 for information technology infrastructure that includes network equipment and computers,
- $51,000 for science lab equipment,
- $270,000 that covered the energy management system,
- $114,000 for kitchen equipment, and finally,
- approximately $250,000 for audio and visual equipment.
Brooks Campus includes an academic building and kinesiology gym, which is leased for 5 years from the Brooks for a total $3,276,480, Trefzer said.
Also, Brooks Development Authority provided $300,000 for building improvements in preparation for classes this fall.
The technology additions to Brooks Campus include:
- About $165,611 of wired equipment,
- $87,191 of wireless equipment,
- $62,956 for classroom technology,
- $12,167 of cabling installation,
- $28,000 for cameras and door access and
- $20,000 to Move Solutions.
The Mesquite reported Aug. 19 that Move Solutions assisted administrators, faculty and staff with packing, transporting and unpacking, and showed employees the proper way to pack wires and electronics.
Every year, the lease agreement requires the university to pay an additional dollar per square foot because of the escalation of rent, Trefzer said.
Therefore, the lease payment will increase to $577,648 next year, $655,296 in the third year, $732,944 in the fourth year, and $810,592 for the final year.
Trefzer said Sept. 15 via email, “We will continue to try and keep tuition rates constant, but it would be difficult to anticipate what changes may occur.”
The budget for Brooks Campus covered the furnishing of 42 private offices at a cost of $189,000, and 132 cubicle work stations for about $396,000, according to Trefzer’s calculations.
He added that by canceling the lease at St. Joseph’s Campus and TEEX, or Texas A&M-University System Texas Engineering Extension Service, the university will save $208,000 annually.
TEEX offers technical and skill-training programs aimed at employed workers and those entering the labor force, and A&M-San Antonio was leasing space in the same building.
St. Joseph’s Campus is located at 535 New Laredo Hwy., San Antonio, TX 78211.
The ability to cancel both leases “helped make the decision to move into the larger, more modern facility,” Trefzer said.
The move was celebrated as a milestone and referred to an “historic event” on Aug. 23 by Texas A&M University System Regent Elaine Mendoza at the university’s first faculty and staff convocation.
According to the university’s website, classes started Fall 2000 with 126 students in portables housed on one of Palo Alto College’s parking lots. In 2003, the 78th Legislature passed SB 800 to create Texas A&M-San Antonio, authored by Senator Frank Madla.
Marilu Reyna, associate vice president of university communications said, 1500 full-time students within a system center were needed by Jan. 2009 in order to pursue stand-alone status for the university.
