NIU’s Board of Trustees convened shortly before Winter Break to discuss potential upgrades for NIU’s residence halls.

The board authorized the installation of Ethernet conduits in Lincoln and Douglas halls, the Neptune Complex and University Apartments.

Such a project was necessary because those residence halls have DSL service, which will not be supported in the future, Coordinator of Residential Technology Jan Gerenstein said. Without an upgrade to Ethernet, a loss of Internet in those halls would be unrepairable.

The project has a tentative budget of $683,400, which will come from revenue bond residence hall funds and should take about a year and a half to complete.

In addition, the BOT accepted a proposed budget of $387,940 for renovating the Grant South Tutoring Center, which will also be funded from revenue bond residence hall funds.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the BOT approved dates to conduct meetings for 2005. Bylaws of the university require the board to meet at least once each quarter. The scheduled dates of March 24, June 16, Sep. 15 and Dec. 1 meet those requirements.

All BOT meetings are open to the public. Major issues that affect students such as updates on funding and research grants are often discussed, BOT student trustee Eric Johnson said.

Meeting notices are distributed 48 hours before a scheduled meeting. Notices include the time and day of the meeting as well as the proposed agenda.

“Ultimately, all major decisions are approved by the board,” Johnson said. “I would encourage anyone interested in the university to attend.”