Building renovations and financial necessities flood the list of responsibilities Thursday for the Board of Trustees.
And one building’s expansion will provide space for medical school operations at a higher cost.
A proposal of a Health Professions Building expansion asks for an additional $22 million, atop $2 million approved at two previous board meetings.
The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in the President’s conference room in the Bovee University Center.
A 62,000 gross-square-foot addition to the building will allot the university a projected budget not to exceed $24 million when added to the initial costs, as proposed by Interim University President Kathy Wilbur.
• Renew a 10-year-lease for office space on East Campus Drive for Special Olympics Michigan. Rent would be $141,000 for this school year.
• Request to negotiate and execute an extension of a contract with Wolverine Power Marketing Cooperative beyond the university’s Dec. 31, 2011 termination date. WPMC anticipates a decline in wholesale energy market costs, and the university looks to purchase contract at similar or possibly lower rates.
• Four rooms in the new Education and Human Services building be named in honor of the following donors: Arlee and Peter Tampas; Judith French Smith and W. Sidney Smith; Myra and Tim Johnson; and multiple smaller donors.
“The (Liaison Committee for Medical Education) sets certain standards for accreditation,” said Sam Kottamasu, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees and ad-hoc medical school chairman. “This would meet those requirements.”
The university aims to build a program to meet the LCME standards and qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver certification.
The design includes an auditorium, small group rooms, classrooms, a simulation suite, anatomy laboratories, clinical skills teaching spaces and a library resource area.
If approved, the addition is expected for completion by spring 2012.
Other agenda items
Also on the Trustees’ agenda is a proposal to approve the campus improvement budget.
The budget is proposed for $4,563,803, about $200,000 less than the 2008-09 campus improvement budget.
After an expected $1.15 million in facility construction and renovation and another $1.4 million on other campus projects, the budget is anticipated to use $3,163,803 — the same amount as last school year.
Another renovation, not included in the campus improvement budget, is Brooks Hall.
David Burdette, vice president for finance and administrative services, proposed an additional $750,000 to correct design errors and omissions associated with the $5.65 million project.
The Board previously approved the $5.65 million to amend mechanical, electrical and plumbing renovation in Brooks Hall over multiple years on deferred maintenance.
Brooks Hall was nearly closed the first day of classes this semester, and a three-day, around-the-clock weekend of work brought the facility up to fire code.
Burdette said continuing to correct these fire safety errors and pay for the quick work done the weekend before classes is expected to cost $750,000.
“Between the material we had to buy, the contractor’s cost and the overtime, we estimate that will be to approximate total cost,” Burdette said. “We did a radical fix to get that building up to code in time for class. It’s important that we keep it up because we want the building to be the best it can be for the biology department and its students and faculty.”
-Senior Reporter Jake Bolitho contributed to this report.
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