OU examining feasibility of hosting data center on campus

Following the February 13 Board of Trustees meeting, Oakland University Senior Vice President for Finance & Administration Stephen W. Mackey is sharing information with the public and clarifying OU’s interest in learning more about the feasibility of building a data center site on campus.

“I have seen and heard so many news stories bearing a wide range of accurate facts, inaccuracies, perceptions and misconceptions regarding data centers of late,” Mackey said. “Therefore, I want to make our position very clear.”

“First of all, it is very important for everyone to know that we have not made any decisions regarding the potential housing of a data center at OU and that decision is likely months away,” Mackey added. “The university is in what we call the initial due diligence, or feasibility phase of exploring the option of housing a data center on campus. We have executed an agreement with Fairmount Properties where we can collaboratively assess the feasibility of the project over the next 120 days. Before any final decision is made, there would be three additional phases prior to a data center becoming a reality.”

This early phase will include identifying OU academic and research programming for the project, identifying industry partners for the project, engineering and preliminary design for the project and business planning.

Mackey further clarified that a central driver for this project is the modernization of campus infrastructure and the optimization of existing academic space.

”A new data center would allow us to move our existing data center from Dodge Hall, which would create more academic laboratory space in that building,” he said. “This has been a core objective of the project from the beginning — updating our current computing capabilities while simultaneously expanding laboratory space as part of the broader Dodge Hall renovation.”

The Oakland University team has created a dedicated AI Institute and Data Center webpage to provide transparency and detailed information regarding the proposed project. It includes:

• Strategic Planning: OU’s Strategic Vision 2030 and Campus Plan 2035.
• Project Timeline: A proposed two-year timeline for due diligence on the data center project.
• Project Goals: Detailed information on what the university hopes to achieve.
• University Oversight: A list of university personnel involved in the exploration process.
• Feedback Channel: A page of frequently asked questions and a newly created data center project email address for public feedback.