Trustees to discuss McNutt access cards

Construction of a new classroom building and implementation of the McNutt Quad student access card project, among other things, will be up for approval at today’s board of trustees meeting in the University Place Conference Center at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis. \nDirector of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre said he expects the new classroom building to be approved with minimum fuss.\n“It will not be a major building like Ballantine,” MacIntyre said. “It will conform to the look of buildings along Third Street. It will be two or three stories and fit in with the neighborhood.”\nThe University will put out a proposal to potential builders if the building is approved by the board, MacIntyre said. The proposal will include the size of the building and other standards required by the University. Potential builders will then submit bids that will include a design and construction costs.\nThe total cost will be between $5 and $7 million and completed by 2009, MacIntyre said. The building will provide classroom and support space for International Studies and other academic programs, according to the board of trustees’ Web site. It will be constructed on the south side of Third Street, according to the site. The building would be made with limestone if it were built on the north side of Third Street, MacIntyre said, which is on the main campus. Buildings on the main campus are built to higher standards than other campus buildings so they will last for generations, he added.\nWhile the University will request state funding for the new classroom building if it is approved, the transition from key locks to access cards at McNutt will be paid for with money set aside by Residential Programs and Services.\n“It’s important to understand RPS is spending money they have placed in reserves,” said Pat Connor, executive director of RPS. “Because of the size of this project, it must be approved, but it will be paid for with money that has been set aside. There will be no increase in rates.”\nStudents living in McNutt will use their student ID cards to unlock both the doors to their rooms and the exterior doors of the building if the project is approved today, Connor said. RPS made the decision to transition to access cards because they provide better security and will cost less in the long run, he added.\nWhen a student loses his or her key, the lock on the dorm is changed, but if someone finds that key he or she will then have access to the building because the locks on the exterior doors are not changed, Connor said. McNutt averages 300 lock changes each year, Connor said. If a student loses an ID card, it can be deactivated immediately with the card access system.\nA card access system was put in place at Willkie when it was remodeled in 1999, Connor said. Briscoe Quad and Forest Quad have card access systems for exterior doors only. RPS plans to eventually implement the system in all dorms, Connor said.\nA joint meeting of finance and audit committees is also on the agenda for today’s board of trustees meeting. They will discuss implementation of IU President Michael McRobbie’s plan to improve residence halls on the Bloomington campus, Connor said.\n“The goal is to talk and get the trustees an update on how the University is responding to the president’s desire to improve residence halls on the Bloomington campus,” Connor said. “I don’t believe any specific projects will be mentioned.”