Its agenda included project and design proposals, updates from the Student Welfare Initiative and the Media and Digitization and Preservation Initiative, and a student report.
The University Relations Committee’s agenda included mainly reports and updates.
Emily Springston, chief of student welfare and Title IX officer, gave an update on the Student Welfare Initiative, an initiative that works to prevent and respond to sexual assault and all forms of sexual misconduct and violence.
Springston gave statistics of cases reported last year at each campus. At IU-Bloomington, 252 accounts of sexual misconduct were reported, including 120 sexual assault/contact cases.
These reports have increased since last year. This raised questions about why there are more cases even though the initiative was created. Springston said she thinks there is an increased awareness about where and how to report it, not an increase in incidents.
“We increase the trust that students have in us,” Springston added.
Anne Tinder, president of the IU Student Association, and Ben Verdi, president of the IU Graduate and Professional Student Government, gave a student report that also focused mainly on campus safety.
“Students generally don’t feel safe on campus,” Tinder said.
Tinder told the trustees some of IUSA’s ideas for increasing campus safety.
They included increasing lighting on campus, which is something Tom Morrison, vice president of capital planning and facilities, said his team is working on.
“Lighting has been a main priority of ours for many years,” Morrison said.
Morrison said they have been changing older lights to LED lights to make them brighter.
He said they are working in Dunn’s Woods to improve lighting and safety in that area.
Tinder also described programs IUSA is planning on piloting in the spring.
These included a partnership with IU Safety Escort and Uber, and a 24-hour call service center that students can call as they are walking home alone.
After their reports, the trustees asked questions and discussed ways they can make campus safer.
“I think we’re all committed to creating that safe environment,” Michael Mirro, IU trustee, said.
Before the University Relations Committee meeting, the Facilities and Auxiliaries Committee met. The committee discussed project and design approvals.
Approval was requested for the construction of a facility for the IU Marching Hundred Band. The facility will be 30,000 square feet and located at the corner of Woodlawn Avenue and 17th Street.
This location is convenient for the band because it is near the athletic complex and also offers a nice piece of architecture on that corner, Morrison said.
“This is definitely something that has been in fundraising for a long time ... definitely a need for a long time,” Morrison said.
It will house a 6,000-square-foot rehearsal space, two 2,600-square-foot rehearsal spaces, locker rooms, spaces for instrument storage and repair, a music library and uniform storage.
The project is expected to be completed in September 2017 and is estimated to cost $10 million. It will be funded entirely by gifts through the IU Foundation.
Morrison and University landscape architect Mia Williams also presented a request for approval for the design of a gateway at Third Street and Indiana Avenue.
This will be the fourth of 11 gateways that will be created on the IU-Bloomington campus.
Other design approvals included a renovation and addition of the Sigma Nu fraternity house and an addition to the Kelley School of Business for career services.
