Approval of a construction bid for the new facility is just one agenda item the Board of Trustees has to decide on at its 1 p.m. meeting today in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

“That’s an exciting thing for us,” said Jill Nilsen, vice president for external relations, about the possible new facility.

The bid is with the Felmley-Dickerson Company in Bloomington, for $1,681,900. The total amount of the project will be $2,847,234.

“It’s been a long time,” Nilsen said. “We’ve been talking about a new Textbook Rental facility for a long time.”

Establishing a new facility was one of former President Lou Hencken’s goals before he left as president in June 2007.

If approved, the new facility would be built off Edgar Drive, near Greek Court.

The construction will be paid through numerous sources such as capital money acquired through fundraising and student fees.

In April, the board approved a $1 per credit hour increase to the Textbook Rental Services fee.

Students currently pay $9.95 for the fee.

Nilsen said the administration hopes to start construction after the holidays.

In other business, the board will decide on approval of a labor agreement between the building service workers’ union and the university.

The union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, ratified the agreement on Nov. 14.

The contract, which would be effective from Sept. 15 to Sept. 14, 2011, is a three-year agreement.

The agreement will cost the university $171,915 in 2008.

That increases to $177,072 in 2009 and to $182,384 in 2010.

Nilsen said the increase each year is because cost of living and other factors increase over time.

The board will also vote on revisions to board policies. The policies were open to public comment until early November.

The policies, which have not be reviewed or revised in 10 years, contain minor revisions.

Many of the revisions contain language updates and updates to certain policies to ensure they meet laws passed by the General Assembly.

In other business, Jeff Cooley, vice president for business affairs, and Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs, will give an update on campus security.

The alumni association will give its annual update to the board as well.

Stephen Di Benedetto can be reached at 581-7942 or at sdibenedetto@eiu.edu.

(Drawn from the news/Yotam Zohar)

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