Student fees will increase as a result of Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting.

The board approved a Campus Improvement Fee that will charge students $6.25 per credit hour to a maximum of 12 credit hours per semester, with a maximum fee of $75 per semester, effective for the spring 2009 semester.

According to the Board of Trustees information book, “the resources generated by this fee will be used to maintain and improve physical classroom conditions, perform renovations needed to enhance the teaching and learning environment, provide support needed for classroom buildings and campus infrastructure improvements such as mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.”

The fee is necessary to provide faculty with “a quality learning environment…and surroundings from which they can perform their mission,” according to the information book.

Trustee Barbara Giorgi Vella regretted the necessity of the fee.

“It’s sad that we have to do this,” Vella said in a Sept. 2 Northern Star article. “But we can’t provide unsafe places for our students to learn.”

The university tried valiantly to avoid the fee, but ultimately had no choice, said Eddie Williams, executive vice president of Finance and Facilities and chief of operations.

“We have resisted, we have tried to keep this down,” Williams said in a Sept. 2 Northern Star article. “But we have to do this. The deferred maintenance is piling up on us.”

$800K APPROVED FOR CHILLER PROJECT

The board also approved an increase to the NIU contribution toward the Chilled Water Plant Project by $800,000.

According to the information book, the Capital Development Board (CDB) has agreed to return all unspent contingency funds to NIU at the completion of the project. The contribution will be made over two fiscal years. The total cost of the project is in excess of $16 million, according to the information book.

When coordinating the funding of the final stages of the project, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) notified NIU and the CDB that because there is no state capital re-appropriation, the DCEO would not be able to fulfill its $800,000 financial commitment to the NIU project, according to the information book.

The two 1,200 ton chillers have been purchased and are ready to be shipped to the site, according to the informational book.

The plant will initially cool 17 central campus buildings including the Holmes Student Center, Founders Memorial Library and the Campus Life Building, and the plant could also potentially cool Anderson and Barsema Halls and the College of Engineering, according to a Nov. 1, 2007 Northern Star article.