Sacramento State gave nearly $5 million to University Enterprises, Inc., to lease and improve a new facility for academic programs, such as nursing, speech pathology and audiology, and physical therapy.

Sac State paid $4.2 million to the nonprofit auxiliary business to lease the former California State Teachers Retirement System building. According to the University Budget Advisory Committee, an additional $600,000 will be spent on renovating the former office space into classrooms, labs and storage rooms.

Marilyn Hopkins, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, said the new building will provide much needed space for these programs.

The nursing department is currently housed in El Dorado Hall.

“It’s an absolutely horrid and abominable space. This move is critical because nursing is a large program that needs a new space, whether it is this building or another,” Hopkins said.

Because of the limited space the El Dorado building offers the nursing program, halls are crowded with gurneys, simulation dummies and other classroom tools.

“Nursing requires extremely important hands-on training,” said Amanda Saindon, freshman nursing major. “We need more room to learn and space for our supplies.”

The new building, located at 7667 Folsom Blvd., will provide nearly 200,000 square feet of new space for the program. This space will include more labs and will allow the nursing program to expand in size. This expansion will also allow staff and students to offer community medical clinics for the uninsured.

CalSTRS approached the university about purchasing the building in 2007. Since Sac State is unable to purchase real estate on its own, UEI purchased the building for $35.3 million in July 2007 for future use by the university.

After the transaction, CalSTRS leased part of the building from UEI until July when it moved to its new headquarters in West Sacramento. The small remaining portion of the building was leased to University Transportation and Parking Services.

Alfredo Orozco, assistant to the director of UTAPS, said UTAPS has been the only tenant in the building since CalSTRS left in July.

Sac State will be renting the space previously occupied by CalSTRS from UEI. The majority of this building will be used for academic programs.

According to the University Budget Advisory Committee, Sac State has a $9.5 million budget hole for the 2009-10 fiscal year. It also has cut campus spending by more than 6 percent. The university will be paying $400,000 per month to occupy the new building in addition to the cost of renovating the space.

“What you get when you come to Sac State is quality,” said Gloria Moraga, associate vice president of Public Affairs. “I know financial times are tough, but President Gonzalez is a builder and he’s doing great things for this campus.”

Recently appointed UEI Director James Reinhart said the CalSTRS building was acquired at the expense of UEI, not from the university’s general fund. Once the mortgage is paid, the building will belong entirely to Sac State.

UEI is currently facing budget problems of its own. It reported an $8.79 million shortfall in projected revenue for the 2008-09 fiscal year, which ended June 30.

Along with property investments, UEI operates the campus bookstore, copy and food services and assists with student employment services through state agencies. UEI saw shortfalls in revenue in every area. Reinhart said he expects future student enrollment cuts to affect UEI even more.

“The cut will have a ripple effect across all levels,” Reinhart said.

In spite of the budget cutbacks everyone is experiencing, the campus is still trying to do its best to improve the quality of education students are given, Moraga said.

Map of new nursing building

View CalSTRS Building in a larger map

Brittany Bottini can be reached at [email protected].