A proposed 6.95 percent increase in room and board rates will be presented at today’s board of trustees meeting.

“We’re proposing a smaller rate increase than has been done in the past few years,” said Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs.

The 2006-07 rates increased by 7.5 percent, and the 2005-06 rates increased by 7.7 percent.

“This should keep us at the lowest rate in the state,” Nadler said, a position Eastern is accustomed to holding among other state universities.

The increase in room and board rates will pay to continue installation of the state required sprinkler systems in the residence halls, as well as the recent Illinois minimum wage increase.

Nadler added that about 800 students have signed Early Bird Contracts to live on-campus for the 2007-08 year.

Also on the agenda are three purchase items including the replacement of the 33-year-old Klehm Hall chiller. The chiller is part of the cooling system used to cool all the buildings in the south quad.

“It’s more energy efficient to cool the buildings” with the one chiller said Gary Reed, director of facilities planning and management. “We’re trying to improve efficiency to keep housing rates down.”

The chiller will be purchased through a grant from the department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity from the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

The other purchase items include a telephone service agreement and a video service agreement.

The recommended video service provider, Institutional Network Communications of Simpsonville, Ky., currently provides the university with video service and recently worked out a deal with the university to provide ABC after it was dropped by the local provider, Mediacom.

Bill Witsman, director of Enterprise Information System Enhancement (EISE) Banner system, will give a status update on the Banner project and Ken Baker, director of campus recreation, will also address the board.