Friday, March 29, 2024

Room and board, FRIB, dean voted by trustees

April 14, 2013

At Friday morning’s MSU Board of Trustees meeting, the trustees approved policy adaptations and construction projects, including a 3.9 percent room and board rate increase and the construction of a Bio Engineering Facility on campus.

Room and board rate increase
The price of the standard silver unlimited meal plan rate will increase by 3.9 percent for the 2013-14 academic year — raising the cost by $330 to $8,806. This percentage is the lowest room and board rate increase in the past 13 years. It will be used to maintain operational costs and help pay off debt service costs Residential and Hospitality Services has accumulated from residence and dining hall renovations.

Rate increase: 3.9 percent, or $330, for the standard silver rate
Time frame: 2013-14 academic year

“Ideally, we’d like not to have it, but since we have to — to keep the place rolling ­— I think we’ve cut it as close as we can,” Trustee George Perles said.

FRIB’s 25-megawatt electrical duct bank

The duct bank will house the cables that will power FRIB from the T.B. Simon Power Plant. They will run underground from just west of the plant to the northwest corner of the Wilson Road and Bogue Street intersection. If President Barack Obama’s 2014 fiscal year budget proposal is accepted by Congress, $55 million will be allocated to FRIB and the project’s full construction could commence this summer.

Duct bank cost: $26 million
Slated full construction time frame: May 2013 to December 2016

“We need to, as a nation, sustain science pre-eminence because it’s key to international competitiveness, and FRIB falls into that category of a very important, new and big science project,” MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon said in regard to FRIB’s national priority status.

Bio Engineering Facility
The facility will be located off of Service Road among the Life Science and Clinical Center buildings in south campus. The facility aims to increase research initiatives across many different backgrounds, including medicine, natural science and engineering Vice President for Administrative Services Satish Udpa said.

Cost: $60.8 million
Slated full construction time frame: July 2013 to November 2015

“By bringing people from multiple disciplines, we expand our footprint,” Udpa said. “(The facility) is going to be impactful in many, many ways.”

College of Engineering Dean
The board approved the appointment of Leo Kempel as acting dean of the College of Engineering. Beginning in March, Kempel took on the responsibilities of Udpa, the former dean, who now serves as the vice president for administrative services.

“I don’t think we’ve really seen anything dramatic (with the transition),” mechanical engineering senior Peter Dolce said. “I don’t know how long it takes stuff to get from the dean’s level down to our level, but we haven’t seen any real changes yet as undergrads.”

Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.

Discussion

Share and discuss “Room and board, FRIB, dean voted by trustees” on social media.