In 2015, most businesses are building online platforms and digital competencies. So, why are three UNC schools seeking bond money (scroll to page 14) to build $225 million in new buildings?

University facilities use is notoriously low. The Pope Center reported in this article that the UNC system had an average classroom occupancy of 44 percent in 2009. A look at the UNC data dashboard reveals that none of the three schools requesting bond money–App State, NC State, and UNC Charlotte–are currently meeting campus targets for classroom use and only App State is meeting the target for lab use.

And the targets, 22.75 hours per week of usage for each classroom seat and 15 hours for each lab seat, are already too low. Even at those targets, classroom seats would sit empty for 43 percent of the workday and lab seats would sit empty for 63 percent of the day. We should expect better from our public institutions.