3 residence halls to be renovated, Forest to get air conditioning

The board of trustees approved several multi-million dollar proposals for the Bloomington campus Friday.\nThe first, and the one that will most affect students, is the renovation of three residence halls. The board unanimously approved a $9.2 million plan to install air conditioning in Forest Quad. Any asbestos present in student rooms will also be removed.\nAsbestos was used for insulation in most buildings built before 1980, so it is present in Forest, Briscoe and McNutt Quads and in Tulip Tree Apartments.\nIntact asbestos poses no health risks, but inhaling the damaged fibers can harm the lungs many years after exposure. It has been recognized as a carcinogen and is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. This semester, resident assistants began warning students living in dorms of the possible asbestos risk, though there is no immediate danger to students as long as they do not damage the asbestos present in their ceilings.\nResidential Programs and Services is planning renovations of the four buildings within the next 10 years to remove all the asbestos, RPS Executive Director Pat Connor said in an August interview.\nThe board also unanimously passed a $3 million renovation project for the bathrooms on the four floors of the Bocobo wing of McNutt and the three floors of the Elkins wing of Teter Quad. The renovations will include improvements to shower stalls so residents have more privacy. \nTrustees also approved a $2.9 million plan to relocate the IU School of Optometry Clinic to Margrave Apartments, 736 E. Third St., and a $2.4 million plan to construct a new Greenhouse and Support Building on 10th Street. The projects will increase research space for the optometry and biology departments respectively.\nThough not applicable to Bloomington students, the trustees also approved a $20.3 million housing project at the IU-South Bend campus. The apartment-style units will house approximately 400 students and provide more than 300 parking spots, according to a press release. This is IUSB's first on-campus housing project. The project will be funded by $18.6 million in bonds and some campus funds, according to the release.\nIU administrators opened the meeting by commenting on the recently released enrollment figures for the University, especially for the Bloomington campus.\nThe 7,259-member freshman class is the biggest ever, but also contains more valedictorians and National Merit Scholars, in line with a recently approved trustee initiative to increase admissions requirements.\nInterim Provost Michael McRobbie said that in accordance with the higher admissions standards, this will probably be the largest incoming class IU has ever had.\nIU President Adam Herbert, however, said he was disappointed with the enrollment numbers for minority students. Though this class has the most incoming minority students ever, the number of black students dropped from 412 to 345. Black students' SAT scores were up 27 points over last year, however.\n"This drop in the number of African-American students is unacceptable," Herbert said. "(SAT scores) are consistent with the trends we're looking for. We just need to do better with the numbers."\nAll other minority groups increased in number, in line with another trustee plan to double minority enrollment by the start of the 2014-15 school year.\nThe trustee meeting concluded with the introduction of the newly appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Bennett I. Bertenthal. Bertenthal, who officially takes over as dean of the school Jan. 1, said he plans to increase the academic excellence of COAS with "bold leadership, vision and old-fashioned hard work."\n"I think we've hired an outstanding dean to lead the college," Herbert said. "One thing that impressed me in my conversations with Bennett is his commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration."\nKumble Subbaswamy vacated the COAS dean position earlier this year to become provost at the University of Kentucky after being passed over for the IU-Bloomington chancellor job. Professor of sociology David Zaret is currently acting as interim COAS dean.\nThe trustees' next scheduled meeting is Nov. 2 and 3 at IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne.