Room-and-board rates for 2016-17, Florida lease top board agenda

Contact: Cheryl Roland

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Room-and-board rates for the 2016-17 academic year and a proposed lease agreement with Florida Southwestern College will top the agenda when the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees meets Thursday, April 21.

Trustees will meet in formal session at 11 a.m. in the ballroom of Heritage Hall. They will consider a recommendation for new residence hall rates for the upcoming academic year. Acting at their December meeting, trustees already approved new 2016-17 rental rates for campus apartments and apartment-style residential units.

The Florida lease agreement would provide WMU with classroom and office space to be used by Extended University Programs faculty and staff in the Punta Gorda, Florida, area. The lease is part of an ongoing University effort to create an out-of-state presence in that area and offer graduate and undergraduate classes there. Another property action item on the agenda involves the purchase of a Grand Rapids building and parking space adjacent to the WMU-Grand Rapids downtown location that will increase access for students and support WMU's participation in the maker space initiative.

Other agenda items

Also on the agenda are recommendations regarding:

  • A campuswide definition of plagiarism developed by a Faculty Senate committee.
  • Clarification on the WMU board's bylaws regarding fees.
  • Authorization for the WMU Stryker School of Medicine to sublease space in its facility to allow development of a toxicology laboratory and research facility with Lansing's Sparrow Hospital.
  • A property purchase on Kalamazoo's Ransom Street to house WMU's surplus sales and storage operations.

Trustees also will hear a report on the recommendations made by a campus committee charged with examining the University's fossil fuel investment strategy. The committee completed its work and made its recommendations to WMU President John M. Dunn late last month.

During the meeting, the board also will receive and be asked to approve reports covering personnel moves, receipt of gifts and grants, and changes to academic programs as well as a change to the bylaws of the WMU Foundation—the entity that receives all gifts on behalf of the University.

The agenda and background details can be found online at wmich.edu/trustees.

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