Project Owner: Lori Kaczka

• Sharpened capital project scope alignment to reduce square footage and lower cost per square foot — driving more disciplined, budget-conscious planning across the University’s ambitious campus growth agenda
• Accelerated project closeout processes to capture additional savings and keep large-scale builds like West Campus Housing Phase 2 and West Valley Hospital on track and under budget
• Achieved nearly $200M in cost avoidance across FY24 and FY25 by adopting the design-build delivery model, consolidating design and construction teams to streamline timelines, reduce fees, and eliminate inefficiencies that traditionally inflate capital project costs

Project Owner: Rich Miller

• Addressing a $16M+ deferred maintenance (DM) backlog across a campus where buildings average over 60 years old, developing a new prioritization process to identify high-ROI maintenance candidates before issues escalate into costly capital needs
• Investing $1.3M in FY25 projects projected to avoid over $4M in catastrophic failures over time, with a proactive, data-driven approach to asset evaluation that shifts facilities management from reactive fixes to predictive maintenance
• Extending the useful life of existing assets while freeing capital for higher-priority needs — with research showing early DM investment can reduce future capital expenses by 300% or more, supporting the U’s ability to attract and retain top students, faculty, and staff

Project Owner: Derek Peterson

• Identified low cost, intrusive custodial activities that could be scheduled during off hours
• Hired 3rd party janitorial companies to perform common area cleaning at night
• Budget savings and improved experience for students, faculty and staff

Project Owner: Derek Peterson

• Identified low cost, high investment activities that could be assigned to landscape trade partners
• Entered into groundskeeping contracts to perform mowing and turf maintenance across campus
• Annual savings of $2M+ applied to increased landscape service level across campus

Project Owner: Brooke Croshier- Sidebotham

• Team increased the number of external events hosted at Rice-Eccles Stadium including concerts, MonsterJam, Supercross, and an international soccer exhibition
• Events generated University revenue while strengthening Utah’s presence in the Salt Lake community and elevating its profile to prospective students

Project Owner: Bryon Buchmiller

• Launched mobile credentials for incoming students in May 2024, replacing physical UCards with phone-based access to dorms, meal plans, transit, and campus events — eliminating long UCard Office check-in lines and simplifying move-in day logistics
• Improved security, convenience, and cross-department coordination, streamlining communication between the UCard Office and Housing and Dining Programs while giving students seamless access to essential services from day one
• Continuing to expand mobile credential infrastructure by upgrading door readers across campus and driving broader student adoption of this secure, modern solution

Project Owner: Shane Girton

• Program gives undergraduates access to all digital and print required course materials on first day of class for $259 per semester
• In the program’s first year, students collectively saved over $6.8 million
• Research shows students are 14% more likely to stay enrolled in courses with a day-one program versus without, and see a 15.6% increase in course completion