The Board of Trustees for Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) voted Monday to establish a $13.5 million project budget for converting the college’s Mark & Helen Osterlin Building into an integrated student services hub. That project, which seeks to improve student experience, retention, and degree completion at NMC, has hit roadblocks over the years due to difficulties state funding challenges. NMC’s new plan calls for self-financing the renovation, with proceeds from the recent sale of the Great Lakes Campus footing most of the bill.

Troy Kierczynski, NMC’s vice president of finance and administration, first detailed plans for the Osterlin project to The Ticker in June 2021, describing it as a way to bring all student-facing services – including admissions, financial aid, advising, tutoring, veteran services, health, and student life – under one roof. Uniting these scattered functions into an integrated services hub, he said, would bring better “logic and efficiency” to the student experience at NMC, hopefully boosting retention and degree completion rates in the process.

The Osterlin project is also a “critical domino” in NMC’s 2024 master plan, Kierczynski says, with the college currently “in the midst of temporary department space moves where the ‘temporary’ nature relies on the completion of the student services hub.”

NMC has been trying for years to get the Osterlin project funded, by way of Michigan’s capital outlay appropriations process. That funding pathway helps finance “the acquisition, construction/renovation, and maintenance of facilities used by a state agency, public university, or community college.” In 2017, NMC scored capital outlay dollars for the renovation of the Timothy J. Nelson Innovation Center, with state money ultimately covering more than half of the $14.4 million price tag.

No similar success has greeted the Osterlin project.

“While our submission has ranked as high as #3 on the state’s list (FY26), and #6 most recently (FY27), we remain unsuccessful in securing funding through this channel,” Kierczynski wrote in a memo ahead of Monday’s meeting. Last March, the NMC board even approved a 12-month, $66,000 contract with Lansing-based lobbying firm Kelley Cawthorne, to “enhance” its pursuit of state funding – to no avail. Other channels, including grant opportunities and requests for legislatively directed spending items, have also been unsuccessful.

“The only barrier to this project has been funding, and our funding picture changed significantly post-sale of the Boardman Lake Campus,” Kierczynski’s memo continued, citing NMC’s $27 million divestment of the former University Center earlier this year. “Due to the rising cost of construction, the deteriorating condition of the Osterlin Building, and the need for an improved service model for our students, I believe the time to move forward is now.”

Kierczynski anticipates the renovation will cost $10 million, plus another $3 million in HVAC upgrades “for transitioning the building to geothermal.” The latter expenditure aligns with the college’s ongoing installation of a new geothermal energy exchange system – another multi-million-dollar project funded by Boardman Lake Campus proceeds. Kierczynski’s Osterlin budget also builds in a 3.8 percent contingency for inflation, for the $13.5 million total. $10 million of the Osterlin budget will come from the proceeds of the Boardman Lake Campus sale, with an additional $2 million from the NMC Foundation and the last $1.5 million from the college's New Capital Projects fund.

With the project budget approved, NMC will now issue an RFP (request for proposals) seeking an architect and construction manager. Kierczynski anticipates the board approving contracts for those roles in October, with construction to start next fall and finish in time for the 2028-29 school year.

Beyond the eight-figure Osterlin budget, NMC also approved nearly $1.1 million in additional spending on Monday, including:

>$794,947 for a new Storage Area Network (SAN), a type of computer network for data storage and access. NMC’s current SAN “has an end-of-support in December 2026,” per a memo.

>$88,000 for a new facilities condition assessment (FCA), which colleges must complete every five years to keep a current five-year capital plan. Such plans are a requirement for the capital outlay program. NMC’s most recent FCA was conducted in 2021.

>$213,840 for a contract with Triangle Associates, to renovate 800 square feet at the Great Lakes Campus and make way for a new NMC Foundation office. The NMC Foundation is currently based at the Boardman Lake Campus.