No Ohio University Board of Trustees meeting would be complete without a consent agenda in which multiple resolutions are voted on at once.
This fall’s Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 meetings won’t be any different.
OU’s board will further consider repairing and renovating campus infrastructure, reviewing university programs and centers as well as evaluating the institution’s financial health. The discussion will take place at its first meeting of this school year on the Athens campus, according to the board’s meeting agenda, released Tuesday.
Most of the resolutions under consideration are on the consent agenda, which means they might be enacted without discussion, as the board had time to review the resolutions prior to the meeting, deeming them routine, the agenda said.
Trustees will consider a resolution, allowing OU to begin issuing construction contracts for Housing Development Plan Phase I.
The first phase of construction runs during fiscal year 2015-16, totaling $110 million, $100 million from debt and $10 million from residential housing reserves.
The move is a routine part of OU’s 6-year Capital Improvement Plan, running from fiscal year 2012-13 to 2017-18.
Two other resolutions on the consent agenda are also up for consideration.
The Lausche Heating Plant has again come up on the agenda, with the board considering allocating $3.5 million from university reserves to create the schematic design for a new plant.
The agenda’s design criteria calls for an OU plant driven primarily by natural gas with diesel fuel as a backup, in compliance with the university’s Climate Action Plan, which intends to phase out OU’s reliance on coal.
The plant could tentatively be built by late 2016 and could cost about $100 million, according to a previous Post article.
OU is also requesting $1.875 million to replace elevators in buildings including Ellis Hall, Clippinger Laboratories and Seigfried Hall, as well as three in Alden Library.
The board is also being asked to approve the creation of two new bachelor degrees in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology.
It will also review a resolution continuing six centers and institutes at OU: Center for Intelligent Chemical Instrumentation, Center for Scientific Computing and Immersive Technology, Appalachian Rural Health Institute, WOUB Center for Public Media, George Hill Center for Counseling and Research and Scripps Survey Research Center.
The Scripps Center would only receive a one-year extension.
The Master of Education in Cultural Studies in the Patton College of Education would be renamed the Master of Education in Critical Studies in Educational Foundations, if the board agrees with the change.
Resolutions not on the consent agenda include those to request state funding for deferred maintenance projects, a Capital Improvement Plan for the fiscal year 2015, fiscal year 2020 and to accept the audit of the university.
dd195710@ohiou.edu
@WillDrabold
