New degrees announced, housing mentioned at BOT meeting
The Oakland University Board of Trustees met on March 28 to discuss a myriad topics, including the approval of new majors, the development of the engineering building and housing:
1. The new engineering building is on schedule and has been approved by the board and the state of Michigan. The plan for the building includes a five-story stone structure. The next step in the process is to contact with the construction manager and getting engaged with a team. The board was brought forth bids and contracts from five different companies. Two spoke at the meeting and they voted to have Walbridge as the contractor. Since 1960, Walbridge has been the largest tax-paying contractor in the state and has been ranked number one in auto construction and facilities. Don Windsor is the lead super intended for the project.
2. According to John Beaghan, vice president for finance and administration, OU is managing the debt and construction projects within the policy and budget.
3. The revised endowment management and investment policy is was approved unanimously by the board.
4. In regards to the housing situation, “It’s absolutely a critical need, and I’m confident that that issue will be addresses,” Gary Russi, university president, said. “There were literally hundreds of developers who were interested in doing housing and partnering with us. So a committee was formed with internal people — who looked at a response to an RFP, brought in good apps to work with us. We are down to five. The next step is to call each in to look at their proposal. This is a very important issue for us. Usually if we can get a decision at the BOT meeting in June, (it will) take 6-8 months to get the design and then break grounds in (the) next spring.”
5. Several new degrees are forming on campus, including a bachelor’s both criminal justice and graphic design and a master’s degree in psychology. “I think they are absolutely needed and critical,” Russi said. “The demand for psychologists is huge. The idea of having something special in criminal justice, we know there is a big back-log of students who want to get in criminal justice. The fact that CM program is going to be in Macomb, at Anton/Frankel Center next to court building, so the legal structure supports it right there. Graphic design has been a huge hit, there escalating what they can do for the students and an increase of it helps them compete in the market.”
6. The Human Health Building cleaning was not part of the Aramark custodian negotiations and was proposed to be added to the custodial contract. Beaghan said he has not heard any complaints about the building impact, but custodians in the audience disagreed. The custodial contract was not discussed at the meeting and was taken out of the agenda to be discussed at a later time.
7. Renovations for O’Dowd Hall have been approved to redesign the auditorium to further support the curriculum of the William Beaumont Medical School. With an increase in class sizes, and the plan to double faculty in the next few months, the school thought an expansion is needed. The plans have been approved and signed off by the dean and faculty.
8. In Hannah Hall, the anatomy labs and physical therapy rooms have been approved to be expanded to include storage rooms and cadavers and will accommodate 159 students. Plans have been drawn out and all the interested people have signed off. The renovation will cost $6.6 million.
