Campus security and future campus renovations were the main topics at Wednesday’s University Council meeting in the Holmes Student Center Sky Room.

NIU President John Peters began the meeting by reading letters of support the university had received in light of the Antinette Keller death investigation.

Peters then went on to say “how proud [he is] of the students, faculty, and staff” in this time of crisis, and thanked the DeKalb County Major Crime Task Squad for its hard work.

“I’m impressed by the maturity, the drive and the spirit of our students,” he said.

Peters also said the university is setting up an email address where students can send in safety suggestions like places for lights to be installed and other safety tips.

Students or faculty who want to send a safety suggestion to the university can email [email protected], and the account will be checked daily, he said.

Peters said the university is moving forward with its Vision 2020 project, which will be a “benchmarking effort…[to]…identify a discreet number of measures to identify progress over the next ten years.”

A “steering committee” will be put together around Thanksgiving to help six work groups identify fiscally possible ways to improve the university over the next decade, he said.

The six groups will each have a unique focus: academic programming, faculty work, excellence and rewards; student recruitment, retention and success; student experience, facilities and environment, and sustainability.

“What I’m looking for is new perspective,” Peters said regarding what he was looking for in a committee member.

After Peters finished his announcements, Faculty Senate president Alan Rosenbaum took the floor.

Rosenbaum discussed his report on the Board of Trustees Special Meeting that took place on Oct. 21.

The report details plans to renovate the Grant Towers, renovating and converting Gilbert Hall into student housing, putting a new roof on the Holmes Student Center, updating bike paths and parking lots and building an intramural sports complex on west campus.

These projects will be paid for by revenue bonds, which the “Board of Trustees wholeheartedly endorsed,” Rosenbaum said.

If the bonds are approved by Dec. 31, the federal Build America Program will pay up to 35 percent of the interest annually.

Rosenbaum’s report said the money to pay for these bonds will “come from housing fees and additional student fees that will be phased in over a four year period beginning in [Fiscal Year] 12.”

Rosenbaum then elaborated on these charges, explaining how the amount will grow over time.

“Students living in residence halls will initially pay $25 per semester as a residence hall surcharge. This will gradually increase to $50 per semester in FY 15,” he said. “In addition, all students will be assessed a revenue bond fee, initially $2.50 per credit hour for a maximum of 12 credit hours. This will gradually increase to $6.00 per credit hour for a maximum of 12 credit hours in FY 15.”

The next University Council meeting will be Dec. 1.