The Board of Trustees unanimously approved raises in student fees and room and board rates, along with a multimillion-dollar renovation of Grant Tower C, at its quarterly meeting Thursday.

According to information from the board and compiled by the Northern Star, full-time undergraduates can expect to pay anywhere from $345.04 to $489.04 more each semester, depending on which residence hall they live in.

During the meeting, board members expressed reluctance in having to raise fees and rates.

“This is not something the board wants to do,” said trustee Barbara Giorgi Vella. “We have no other choice.”

Fellow trustee Robert T. Boey also said he did not wish to raise fees and rates on students.

“We wish we wouldn’t have to raise anything at all,” Boey said before the Board of Trustees voted for it.

Addressing the assembled administrators and other university officials, President John Peters said the university tried to keep the increases as low as possible, but uncontrollable factors led them to it.

“The components of this increase [in room and board rates] is made of increasing costs in utilities, increases in minimum wages,” Peters said, adding that the rates will maintain the fire and sprinkler systems and an emergency fund used for building repairs.

One of the largest fee increases is in the athletic fee, which supports intercollegiate athletics at NIU. It was increased by 8.52 percent, from $16.19 to $17.57. The Student Association will also receive a slight increase in funding, as the activity fee is being increased by 1 percent.

In their comments, student trustee DuJuan Smith and Kelly Wesener, assistant vice president of student services, said they had heard words of support from the students regarding the increases in fees and room and board rates. Smith said the students described the increases as “relatively fair and reasonable.”

Wesener said she took the proposal to raise room and board fees to the Residence Hall Association.

“They were supportive of it and actually went slightly higher [in terms of room and board rates],” Wesener said.

RENOVATION OF GRANT TOWER C

Another major item that was approved by the Board of Trustees was a $14.85 million renovation of Grant Tower C.

The renovation of C tower is only the first phase of the project. Eventually, Grant North and South will resemble Stevenson Towers, allowing students to walk from one end of Grant Towers to the other without having to go into the basement.

Several board members described the need to renovate Grant Towers. Boey said it was “high time we pay attention to our dorms.”

Peters also expressed similar sentiments.

“This is an investment in a housing stock to stay competitive,” Peters said, emphasizing the need to separate NIU from other universities.

The renovation would increase the size of the rooms, reducing the number of students being able to live in the tower from 500 to 400, said Wesener during the meeting. Fire alarm and sprinkler systems will also be improved, while the floors and bathrooms will have different looks altogether.

Some questions remain. Peters said during the introduction of the proposal that the renovation will be funded through bonds, but it is unknown what kind of impact it would have on students.

Speaking for the Office of Student Affairs, Brandi Hephner LaBanc, assistant vice president for planning and operations, said she would be unable to answer the Northern Star’s questions by press time.

As of press time, calls to Eddie Williams, executive vice president of finance and facilities and chief of operations, were not returned.