Danica Ceballos/The Mirror
When walking on Fairfield’s campus this semester, one might notice a different sight. Over the summer, signs with red backgrounds and white lettering were erected to label the buildings on campus. These signs, which are part of Fairfield’s beautification process that is taking place over the course of the next several years, have sparked some mighty rumors.
One rumor is that the signs cost $3,800 per sign, and the other is that the color scheme of the signs is incorrect. However, upon closer investigation, both rumors proved to be wrong. In the exchange of emails from Dr. Mark Reed, the Vice President of Administration and Student Affairs at Fairfield University, it was discovered that neither was the case. Although he was unable to disclose the actual amount spent on the signs, he reported that the cost was not $3,800. The signs, Reed also noted, are the color they were designed to be since the idea’s creation.
The beautification project on the campus has been in the budgets and master plan for four to five years. At this point, “it was a multi-year and multi-phase plan which we have been implementing ever since. The Quad, as an example, was the largest component to be completed thus far, but there have been others – such as the Village this past summer, select parking lots and additional sidewalks, and other examples,” said Reed.
Although he cannot disclose actual prices, he noted that the prices seem more daunting than they actually are when worked into the budget. For example, when there were new doors put in around campus, Reed noted they were a six-figure number, but claimed that this was the norm. He notes: “It’s a big campus! [It’s] safe to say that when all is completed, the total cost for this will also be in that cost range.”
There has been some confusion as to why the University is taking all of these new beauty initiatives during a recession, but Reed explained how there were two budgets: an operating budget and a capital budget.
“The operating budget reflects all of the revenues and expenses associated with the regular operation of the University on an annual basis – revenues from tuition, room and board, gifts, investment returns,” Reed explained. “The capital budget reflects longer-term investments or expenses in things such as the physical plant (buildings and grounds), equipment, [and] IT infrastructure.”
Though people are lamenting the cuts that have taken place in such academic departments like Music, Reed noted that this was all in the master plan. The question now becomes if the master plan is worth the expense.
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