Capital Planning
Capital Planning is the lead office for coordination, preparation and routing of required capital project documents for approval by the Chancellor, Office of the President, the Regents, or the state. Capital Planning also serves as the liaison between the campus and Office of the President to coordinate the Capital Program.
Capital Planning collaborates across vice chancellor areas to prepare and submit the annual Capital Financial Plan update, which currently represents a six-year forecast of proposed capital improvements. This plan is usually presented to the Regents for their acceptance at the November Regents meeting. Capital Planning also coordinates with Capital Program Management to submit the annual Major Capital Implementation Report, which provides an update on the progress of all approved capital improvement projects with budgets over $1 million that were either completed in the past fiscal year or were in design or construction during the past fiscal year.
In addition to these activities, Capital Planning participates on committees related to design professional and contractor screening and selection, design-build competitions, project work groups, neighborhood planning studies, utility infrastructure planning, public realm improvements and capital asset renewal (deferred maintenance).
Capital Program
UC San Diego’s Strategic Plan, completed in 2014, guides campus efforts to be a student-centered, research-focused, service-oriented public university. Priorities for the capital improvement program will continue to evolve to support the goals of the Strategic Plan, the 2018 La Jolla Campus Long Range Development Plan, and the 2019 Hillcrest Campus Long Range Development Plan. The capital improvement program is also focused on addressing seismic improvements and deferred maintenance at existing facilities.
Project Status
MyConstructionProjects, UC San Diego’s Construction Project Dashboard, is a user-friendly tool that provides the most current information about your major and minor capital improvement projects. Anyone who has Single Sign-On access can use this tool.
Capital Process
Project Approval Thresholds
Approvals vary depending on the project budget. See the chart below for a quick overview:
| Classification | Budget | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Minor (Form PDF) | >$35K – $1M | Campus Building Official |
| Mini Major | >$1M – 10M | Chancellor |
| Delegated Campus | >$10M – 70M | Chancellor with UCOP Endorsement |
| Regental | Over $70M | Regents |
For details, see Project Approval Thresholds (PDF).
Guidelines
Grant-Funded Capital Improvement Projects
External entities that provide funding programs to improve facilities—including federal agencies and private institutions—typically require documentation pertaining to project scope, schedule, budget, and environmental impacts. This information must be validated by university architects and planners prior to submission.
In accordance with authorities delegated by the Regents to campus officers, official submission of any facility improvement grant proposal requires the signature of the Chancellor or the Vice Chancellor of Resource Management & Planning.
If external funding entities require matching fund commitments, a department preparing a grant proposal should work with its vice chancellor.
Departments developing proposals to secure funds for facility improvements or new construction should follow these steps:
- The principal investigator or department chair considering submittal of a facility improvement proposal should contact the vice chancellor (or his or her designee) in the initial proposal preparation process.
- The vice chancellor (or his or her designee) must contact the Vice Chancellor of Resource Management & Planning, who will assign staff to coordinate the development of requisite facility data, including space or program plan, site analysis, environmental documentation, budget, and schedule.
- If the proposal pertains to organized research space, proposal development must also involve the Vice Chancellor of Research.
At the onset of planning a grant-funded capital improvement project, the Principal Investigator and departmental staff supporting the project shall contact the appropriate Contract and Grant Officer in the Office of Contract and Grant Administration (for General Campus and Health Sciences projects), or SIO OCGA (for Scripps Institute of Oceanography projects). This action is required to coordinate the development of the proposal using Kuali Research and consulting regarding sponsor requirements, the submission timeline and other matters critical to UC San Diego’s submission of proposal in response to either a formal or informal solicitation.
Questions?
Email Capital Planning at capitalplanning@ucsd.edu or see Contacts.