A Lot “To Do”

A Lot “To Do”

White Joins Rice With an Armful of Ideas

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News Staff

Barbara White’s “to do” list seemed like it was already a mile long when she became Rice’s new director of project management and planning in May.

With construction or renovation of more than 10 buildings on that list, it isn’t likely to get any shorter anytime soon. But to White, completion of items on that list will be worth the wait.

“One of the great attractions for me to work with a university is the chance to develop and implement a vision that will be there for many, many years after we all have moved on to other things,” White said. “Rice has an incredibly beautiful campus with many well-thought-out buildings, and I consider it my responsibility to maintain that level of excellence.”

Before coming to Rice, White spent five years as a university architect at the University of Miami, from which she has a master’s in business administration. She also studied at the Georgia Institute of Technology and The University of Texas at Arlington, where she received a bachelor’s of science in architecture.

In her new role at Rice, White will oversee all major building and renovation projects to ensure they are completed by deadline, within budget and according to specifications that meet the needs of the students, staff and faculty who will use the building.

“Consistency and clarity are my two themes,” said White, a registered architect.

She is developing reporting tools for her staff of three project managers, department coordinator and senior project manager so that all contracts, schedules, budgets and other planning details are handled the same for each project.

“This strong team has been doing a tremendous job on a number of ongoing projects,” White said. “It’s my challenge to make their jobs easier.”

White also plans to focus on team-building for each project. “It’s important that each member of the team know and respect the other members’ goals so that there’s a cooperative spirit among the planners, the clients who will use the building and the contractors,” she said.

The budget for project construction at Rice over the next five years is approximately $400 million. As in the past, Rice has hired some of the best architectural and project management firms in the world, White said, “but the Department of Project Management and Planning is responsible for the bottom line.”

One of the challenging projects awaiting White and the department’s project managers is construction of the new building for the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, which will have the first underground parking garage at Rice.

Another is the renovation and rebuilding of Fondren Library, which will entail constructing a temporary building while part of Fondren is torn down and replaced with a larger building. The other part of Fondren will then be renovated as well.

“The need for a large amount of additional square footage makes this project difficult to relate architecturally to other buildings on the old academic quad, which is arguably the most important space at the university,” White said. “And during construction, we need to keep the library operating continuously so we can serve the needs of the students and faculty.”

The project team hopes the new library will provide “a new and vibrant heart” for the university on a critically important aesthetic area of the campus. “It’s our greatest opportunity for success,” White said.

White, who was born in Cleveland, is married to an architect and has a 14-year-old son.