NIU administrators announced renovation plans for the Grant residence halls Sunday.

Brian Hemphill, vice president of student affairs; Bob Albanese, associate vice president of finance and facilities and Michael Coakley, assistant vice president for student life, presented a tentative $2 million budget for Grant refurbishing at Sunday’s Residence Hall Association meeting.

“We [NIU] are going to use these minor renovations as a way to bridge the gap between Grant’s current status and its completion,” Hemphill said.

NIU will address five key renovation goals in Grant’s public spaces including infrastructure, safety, disabilities access, fire code compliance and kitchen upgrades.

“Our long-term goal is a complete renovation of the individual rooms, but as of now we have not set any dates,” Hemphill said.

Stevenson Tower’s renovations were completed about seven years ago for a total cost of about $22 million.

The university will not increase students’ room and board rates within the next year as a result of the $2 million renovations, but students will see rate increases after the complete renovation, Coakley said.

Officials also didn’t comment on the exact amount of increases students will receive due to the renovations.

“Students can plan on seeing results within the next six-to-12 months and 80-to-90 percent of our goals completed by the fall of 2005,” Albanese said.

Administrators also described the progress of the new Grant tutoring center as about 50 percent complete and expect a fall 2005 completion date.

RHA announced the technology fee for hall residents will increase 3 percent to $57 for the 2005-2006 academic year.

Next week’s RHA meeting will include a visit from NIUtel Director Cindy Phillips to discuss the re-wiring of Douglas and Lincoln’s Internet and the campus-wide expansion of Ruckus for next year.