The Board of Trustees approved over $60 million to be used for the upcoming renovations for the University in their meeting on Dec. 5.
The renovations and construction funds were broken into different categories for different projects.
Included in these projects are approval for parking lot and road renovations, Union renovations, classroom update project, Greek Housing project, Eppler Complex renovations and more.
The most expensive of the expenses came from the Greek Housing project, where Chief Financial Officer Sheri Stoll asked the Board to approve the funding for the construction of the housing. The total projected cost of the project is over $37 million.
“We put a great deal of time to student success,” Stoll said. “Housing is an important part of that.”
The second most expense item for approval, which Stoll was asking for $13 million, was the new infrastructure for buildings scattered around the University like Moseley Hall, Hanna Hall, South Hall, University Hall and the Centrex Chiller Plant.
“It will be disruptive to normal traffic and pedestrians,” Stoll said. “It might also prevent August graduation from being in front of University Hall, but these need to be done.”
The additions for the buildings include new electrical services, heating, cooling, new sanitary sewer lines and more.
Another upcoming change is the approval for the Union renovation, which plans to take the Career Center from the Math Science building to the second floor of the Union.
“The layout for the office will be a wall of glass, so people can easily see inside the Center,” Stoll said.
In total, the cost for the renovation will be $2 million.
In order to pay for these projects and renovations, the University will be taking out future long-term debt for the majority of the payments.
Provost Rodney Rogers also brought a new degree to the Board of Trustees. It would be the Inclusive Early Childhood associate degree.
“This action is to allign the associate’s degree at Firelands to the bachelor’s degree here,” Rogers said.
