The Illinois State University Board of Trustees approved $4.4 million in various projects during its meeting Friday at the Bone Student Center. (Joe Ragusa/WJBC)
By Joe Ragusa
NORMAL – The Illinois State University Board of Trustees has signed off on a few maintenance projects.
The board approved $1.4 million for resurfacing, redevelopment and lighting replacement for three parking lots east of Milner Library, another $1.3 million for roof replacements on the Nelson Smith Building and Julian Hall, and $940,000 for updated fire detection equipment at the West Campus Residence Hall Complex during its meeting Friday.
Illinois State President Larry Dietz said the top priority in approving maintenance projects is life safety issues, and the next priority is keeping facilities in good working order.
"None of the projects are terribly exotic. Everybody would like to spend the money on something else," Dietz said. "But the bottom line is our facilities need help."
The board also approved spending $940,000 for VoIP, or voice over internet protocol, phone system for University High School. In total, the board approved nearly $4.4 million in various projects.
Illinois State students will pay 6.9 percent more next year for health insurance. The Board of Trustees unanimously approved a $16-per-semester increase in the student insurance fee for Fall 2015 and Spring 2016. The fee for Summer 2016 will increase to $187 from $175 in the Summer 2015 session.
The increase is part of a renewal agreement with Aetna Student Health for the same policy the board approved in Feb. 2012. Student trustee Ellen Schumacher said the student health care plan is one of the best offered by Illinois public universities.
"As a student who is using this health insurance, I will say that, personally, I think it's a very good plan," Schumacher said.
Illinois State is on its way to having four new majors within the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. The programs were already established, but Dietz said university officials studied the programs and determined they needed to be elevated.
(The faculty) are the experts in those fields, so it always starts there," Dietz said in response to how they came to conclusion the four programs need elevating. "You also look at workforce needs, and you look at conversations with the folks that are hiring our students, and you take that into account as well."
The four new majors – fashion design and merchandising, human development and family science, interior design and food, nutrition and dietetics – also require approval from the Illinois Board of Higher Education. The four new majors were approved unanimously Friday with trustee Jay Bergman abstaining because he also sits on the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].
