New parking lot part of proposed Student Residential Life project


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Faulty dicuss ​in and out-of-state tution ​at Board of Trustee meeting on Feb.14 in the Bovee University Center.

A plan to add a new parking lot to Central Michigan University’s campus is part of the Student Residential Life project.

Barrie Wilkes, vice president of Finance and Administrative Services, presented to members of the board of trustees Feb. 14 as part of the Finance and Facilities Committee.

Four committees met a day before the board’s formal meeting on Feb. 15.

Wilkes presented a proposed update and add on to south campus, which includes Merrill, Sweeney, Thorpe and Beddow halls. 

According to the plan, a 500-space parking lot (Lot 75) will be added to the grassy area on the south side of Broomfield Street.

The plan includes updating Merrill residential restaurant and adding buildings on the north and south ends of the community that will house 500 students. The plan also includes removing Lot 45, located between Sweeney and Thorpe halls, and turning the space into a community area.

This proposal will be voted on by the trustees at its April 19 formal meeting.

“Our plan is to win formal approval of the plan at the April meeting and break ground this summer,” Wilkes said.

Wilkes also proposed standardizing tuition rates for all U.S. residents. Currently, out-of-state students can qualify for the President’s Award, which gives them in-state tuition if their high school grade point average was higher than 2.75. Wilkes said 85 percent of out-of-state students receive the President’s Award. 

Finance and Facilities Committee Chair William Kanine believes the change will make CMU more competitive for out-of-state students. 

Students all over the nation can enroll in Global Campus and pay in-state tuition rates, Wilkes said.

“If you’re a student taking a class in Atlanta, you can enroll in Global Campus and pay in-state rate, but if you jump on a plane to Mount Pleasant and take classes here, you have to pay out-of-state rates,” Wilkes said.

Academic and Student Affairs Committee

Ian Davison, senior vice provost for Academic Organizational Review, provided an update on the Academic Organizational Review and its committees.

Committee I will vote on efforts to reorganize colleges this fall. Preliminary recommendations were released to the public Jan. 29. Davison said he had confidence in a proposal rearranging of the College of Education and Human Services that would included a new Department of Fashion and Interior Design. 

Committees II and III will provide their feedback in the middle of March.

Committee II had proposed consolidating economic advising into one executive with more authority. 

“The single most important thing we can do is strengthen advising,” Davison said. 

Charles Crespy, dean of the College of Business Administration, announced the college will attempt to grow its certified students by 10 percent. 

Crespy also announced a partnership with the College of Medicine that will allow medical students to graduate with a Master of Business Administration degree. He plans to implement a questionnaire that would track students six months after graduation.  

Crespy also announced that CBA would allow students to receive a bachelor’s degree in business with the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration curriculum. 

Trustees-Faculty Liaison Committee

Trustees discussed the importance of program review as it applied to the reduction or elimination, enhancement and creation of different academic programs.

Mary Senter, a professor of sociology, said the review provides an overall rating of a program, which can then be used to help decide whether to begin the elimination process of the program or to invest more into a program.

The review process is extensive and is done every five years unless the program is for specialized accreditation. It includes a faculty self-study, an external reviewer and many different discussions with the chair of the department. Aspects analyzed in the review incorporate features like the number of students enrolled in the program and how well students do after graduation.

Also at the meeting, Joanne Dannenhoffer, a biology professor specializing in microscopy, presented the biology microscopy program as a “point of pride.”

Dannenhoffer explained that CMU’s microscopy program is one of the only four-year programs for this field of study in the country. She emphasized her students’ research in the field.

“My research collaborators at other institutions are always amazed at the quality that our students produce and that they’re undergrads,” Dannenhoffer said.

The program has received $1.5 million in grants during the past few years. These grants have been used to buy two new microscopes: a transmission electron microscope and a confocal scanning microscope.

Students in this program have gone on to work in companies like Dow Chemical Co. and hospitals such as Johns Hopkins.

Trustees-Student Liaison Committee

Student Government Association President Anna Owens addressed the passing of three pieces of legislation during the 2017-18 academic year. The legislation supports free menstrual products, a food pantry on campus and amendments to CMU’s current bereavement amnesty policy.

Sexual Assault Peer Advocates Director Brooke Oliver-Hempenstall, assistant director Megan Varner and Northville graduate student Jasmine Valentine discussed the impact of SAPA volunteers on CMU’s campus.

Oliver-Hempenstall said CMU is ahead of the curve when it comes to sexual aggression services and programming. She added that SAPA has existed for 20 years, averages six contacts a week and has grown its volunteer pool from 12 in its first year to 60 this year. 

Residence Hall Assembly Director Jasmine Alverado said the security measures implemented in the Towers Residence Halls this past fall have been successful and the RHA will be implementing the same identification devices in East Campus residence halls in the next few years.

Program Board President Marissa Mattioli updated trustees on Program Board’s plans for the upcoming year, reporting the organization has 57 events scheduled. Only one of the events will be of cost to students: the Jesse McCartney concert March 22 in Finch Fieldhouse.

Staff Reporters Jeremy Agosta, Bridget Bittmann and Quinn Kirby contributed to this article.

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