In the face of declining state funding and budget consolidation, the University is now looking to its own activities to find ways to streamline the budget.
After several construction projects have gone over budget in the past few years, the University is planning to change its selection process for architects of on-campus construction projects, said University President F. King Alexander.
The selection of architects for all state projects is currently handled by the Louisiana Architects Selection Board. The board places advertisements describing the nature of the work on its website, and architecture firms or freelance architects may submit proposals including blueprints and cost estimates.
Alexander addressed the problem after a project to renovate and upgrade patient rooms in three wings of the University Health Sciences Center Shreveport went over budget because the architect’s estimate undervalued the project.
Alexander said the architect did not account for 33 to 35 percent of the project’s cost, which resulted in a final construction cost about $1 million over budget.
The contract was awarded to LeBlanc and Young Architects, Inc., a Shreveport firm that has conducted numerous projects for the Health Sciences Center in the past.
In October’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Alexander said a new method for determining which architects and construction firms will be awarded University contracts is needed. He said a new selection process could also apply to other jobs the University contracts out.
Alexander said the University must be conscientious of its budget, especially because it has received decreased funding from the state in recent years.
“If we’re not getting accurate estimates from our architects, we can’t have an accurate budget,” Alexander said.
Mark Moses, director of the Division of Administration’s Office of Facility Planning and Control, which oversees the Architects Selection Board, declined to comment on the possibility of new criteria for selecting architects for University projects.