Cash-Strapped Schools Rely on Industry Stepping Up To the Plate
In his 1994 bestseller First Things First, management guru Steven R. Covey exhorts business leaders to "leave a legacy." It looks like more construction industry leaders are taking that kind of advice when it comes to giving big money for named university buildings and programs.
Real estate moguls and engineering and construction industry chieftains have been donating millions to relevant academia long before Coveys exhortations. But this largesse has perhaps never been so critical. Colleges and universities need new facilities as they compete fiercely for top faculty, students and research dollars, just as state schools see their share of public funds decline. Without "privatization," many university expansion projects would take years or decades longer, or not happen at all.