$500m construction program set to create 5,000 jobs at Rutgers U.

Citing prudent fiscal policies and strong credit ratings, Rutgers University is embarking on a $500 million capital construction program that will create new academic and student facilities while generating thousands of badly needed construction jobs across the state.

The construction program, which will fund more than 20 building projects on the university's Camden, Newark and New Brunswick campuses, is projected to create 5,000 jobs through 2011, said Rutgers University president Richard L. McCormick.

"The projects that are part of this initiative will enhance services and academic opportunities for Rutgers students while benefiting the regional economy," McCormick said.

"As the federal stimulus plan demonstrates, infrastructure improvements are an important way to create jobs and lay the foundation for long-term economic growth. On the state level, Rutgers University can play a similar role as an economic engine across New Jersey." The job projections were generated by Antonio Calcado, university vice president for facilities and capital planning, James W. Hughes, dean of Rutgers' Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and Joseph J. Seneca, university professor at the Bloustein School.

Projects that are part of the university's construction program include: A $25 million Institute for Health Sciences on the New Brunswick Campus; $12 million in renovations to the recreational center on the Camden Campus; $5.4 million to construct additional research laboratories in the Life Sciences Center on the Newark Campus; $55 million for a new Center for Integrative Proteomics Technologies facility on the Busch Campus in Piscataway; $18.2 million to expand the Livingston Campus Student Center in Piscataway; $60 million for deferred maintenance across the university and; $15 million for classroom improvements.

To help finance the initiative, the university sold $233.1 million in general obligation bonds on Feb. 10. The bonds will be repaid through user fees and other university revenues.

Prior to the bond sale, the nation's two most-respected bond-rating agencies reaffirmed Rutgers' strong credit ratings--Aa3 from Moody's Investors Service, AA from Standard & Poor's.

In its rating report, Moody's analysts wrote: "Rutgers' position as the state's ... only comprehensive public research university will continue to drive the excellent student demand and anchor state and private support for its academic, research and public service programs for the foreseeable future."