Baker University Board of Trustees will be touring campus facilities Friday to determine possible changes, as well as discussing the announcement last week by University President Pat Long that the budget needs to be adjusted
The budget and state of the economy will be discussed in a closed meeting introducing ideas to the BOT, deans, chairs and directors so thoughts can be shared and plans solidified before final decisions are made, Long said
“I’m going to give them broad brushes of where these cuts are going to come from and just gather some of their ideas about what they think is prudent around that,” Long said.
An adjustment between 6 and 7 percent would be necessary to match current revenue projections, due to an unsettled market and the fact that the number of full-time students budgeted for wasn’t reached, Long said
Provost Randy Pembrook said while the conversation Friday will focus on the economy, what the markets are doing and what the budget implications are, Baker isn’t tied financially to major banks that are floundering. Therefore, the BOT also will be discussing the university’s master plan, which is always the annual focus of the October meeting
“The topic on Friday will be physical facilities, and it will be the board talking about what we need to do and when we need to do it from their perspective,” he said. “The things we really want them to look at are Denious (Hall) as it relates to one-stop shop, and we think we need to make some changes in the cafeteria in terms of making it look more contemporary and making it more supportive of serving different kinds of foods in different stations.
Looking even further into the future, changes to Rice Auditorium, which hasn’t been updated in about 25 years, will be discussed. Renovations to Jolliffe Hall to turn it into an administration building also will be evaluated, Pembrook said
“What we’re trying to do is show we’re doing good planning on those areas – that we have some ideas of what we want to accomplish,” he said.
Long said the meeting took a macro view last year looking at possibilities for the future, whereas this year it’s taking a micro view to look at possibilities for improving current spaces, including the new science building, Irwin and Gessner halls
Sophomore Sashay Marshall said she’d like to see parking discussed and renovations approved for the two residence halls
“I really hope they improve Gessner and Irwin, especially Irwin because of the (problems) that we have had,” she said, referring to leaks and mildew caused by a deteriorated roof that was replaced over the summer.
Marshall said she’s pleased with the idea of a one-stop shop as it will be helpful to students
Long said BOT members will be presented with a brochure of what each building would look like upon completion and the projected costs. However, the BOT won’t be approving funding for any of the projects, only whether or not the projects are practical.
If the one-stop shop project is approved, renovations to Denious will begin internally to continue to move the project forward, Long said.
“Instead of contracting that out, we’ll ask our maintenance department to spend so many hours a day over there tearing out walls, so that we can get it ready for the actual building,” Long said.
