The Board of Regents’ monthly meeting today promises to continue the rather cordial tone set in January after nearly a year of often controversial gatherings.
The regents will hear reports on faculty diversity and an updated report about the building of a new residence hall on campus. The board will also adopt equal tuition rates for all undergraduates, as discussed in their January meeting.
The report on faculty diversity will be heard by the Faculty, Staff and Student Affairs committee. The report shows that administrators have exceeded their goals in hiring minorities, with 298 faculty members of color comprising 10.1 percent of all professors. The goal for this report had been 9.8 percent. But the report faults the University for poor performance hiring black and Native American professors and for concentrating minority hiring in a few programs.
The regents’ Facilities Committee will discuss plans for a new residence hall. The Mineral Resources Research Center, located at 56 East River Road, will be remodeled to create the hall. The hall is planned to house 138 students in apartment-style accommodations. The project is expected to cost $9.2 million, most of which will be provided by an internal University loan. Construction will begin in March, and the hall is expected to be completed this fall.
A new tuition policy that abolishes different rates for lower and upper-division undergraduates by the 1998-99 academic year will be discussed during the Faculty, Staff and Student Affairs Committee and adopted by the Committee of the Whole.
Administrators will also implement a more strict academic fees policy. Currently, fees can be imposed by courses, departments, and colleges, but not for general budget support. The new policy will allow each college only one fee to eliminate course and department charges. These changes will also take place by 1998-99.
The regents will also hear about the status of the University’s research programs. A report will outline the expected effects of new research policies and procedures intended to increase oversight and accountability.
The board will also recognize outgoing Regents Stanley Sahlstrom and Hyon Kim during the meeting of the Committee of the Whole.