SC.00.09
February 14, 2000

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
URBANA-CHAMPAIGN SENATE

Report of Board of Trustees Meeting - November 17, 1999

The Board reviewed and approved (on Thursday) the UIC South Campus Student Apartment project. The project is budgeted at $60M, will provide 755 beds and nearly 52,000 sq. ft of retail space. The first building is scheduled for completion Fall of 2001.

The remainder of the afternoon open session was devoted to questions and answers about items on the agenda for action on the 18th. During the discussion of bonded funding of new projects the Board received a report on the bond ratings for all of the Universities existing and new debt offerings. The ratings were the same or higher than in the past. Two of the bond issues are rated at the "A" and the largest issue is rated "AA." Given that the total indebtedness is approximately $200M, each 10 basis points will save the University $200,000 annually in debt service costs, making the ratings an important financial consideration.

There was a brief discussion of the similarity in the educational experience of individuals graduating from universities outside the United States. The remainder of the day was devoted to meeting in executive session.

The Thursday meeting began with a report from the representative of the UIS Senate. This was followed by a report on the efforts in Technology Transfer and the development of research parks. There was significant discussion and apparent Board support for the new technology transfer support initiatives.

The proposed changes in tuition and fees were presented. A report on state and federal legislation affecting the University was discussed. A ruling on a suit related to the level of support for retirees may be finalized in the near future. The ruling could force that SURS to offer an early retirement program that would be costly and generate a significant number of retirements. SURS has developing a more modest proposal.

The Board approved a motion by O'Malley, Shea and Plummer that a Task Force be formed to study gender equity on the three campuses and to report to the Board at the June 2000 meeting.

All of the regular business items presented for consideration were approved without discussion. The meeting adjourned early.

Submitted by Wes Seitz
Urbana Senate Observer