Greg Ianni, deputy athletics director, said during the meeting that financing is slated to come from sponsorships and other areas through the Athletic Department. These tentative details, including the design of the boards, are expected to be determined come January 2012.

According to board documents, the existing scoreboards were installed in 1998, and the technology is outdated. Maintenance on the system is difficult because the parts no longer are being manufactured.

“Improving a sports venue is never an inexpensive proposition, but our fans have come to expect MSU to keep pace with the state of the art,” MSU Alumni Association Executive Director Scott Westerman said in an email. “They have HD at home and expect to see it in the stadium.”

The board also took up consideration of MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon’s salary, pegged at about $520,000 a year.

Trustee Faylene Owen said Simon’s leadership merits a “significant increase” in pay, but the president requested no increase for the fourth year in a row because of the difficult financial circumstances.

The board accepted her decision.

Once the news was posted on Facebook and Twitter, users commended Simon on being a “class act” for not requesting any increase for yet another year.

“Roy [Simon’s husband] and I felt that it’s important that we both do our part in not only a no salary increase, but giving additional money back to the university through our development program,” Simon said. “We care deeply about Michigan State University.”

Trustee Melanie Foster said Simon has given in excess of $2.5 million to MSU during the past several years.

The board voted to approve for the administration to plan for replacing the steam distribution tunnel because of its old age at a cost of about $13.45 million with some funding slated to come from the university general fund.

It runs from the Main Library to IM-Sports Circle.

“Well, it wouldn’t be a board meeting without a steam distribution tunnel,” joked Fred Poston, vice president of finance and operations, because projects such as this have appeared at almost every board meeting.

“We desperately need to replace (the) steam tunnel; it’s with a fair amount of importance that we get this done.”

Among these decisions made Friday, the board also approved renovations to Old College Field and added an entrance plaza at a cost of about $3.7 million. The plaza will be named Pentecost Plaza, which also was approved, with donor money coming from the Pentecost Foundation, based in Lansing.