By CHRISTIE BLECK

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University Board of Trustees on Friday approved 2019-20 room and board rates that are less than 1 percent higher than last school year, despite inflationary cost adjustments and maintenance needs.

“The fact we’re able to keep room and board increases at less than 1 percent is a testament to the great staff managing housing and dining, but also to the choices and options Northern makes available to students,” said Trustee James Haveman in a news release. “I just want to thank the people who are able to hold costs down for the students. That’s really our goal and I think we accomplished it this time.”

The combined cost of a double-occupancy room in a traditional residence hall and the new dining plan base requirement — the “silver constant” meal pass — will be $5,247 per semester, an increase of $44 or .85 percent. A double-occupancy room in The Woods complex with the same dining plan will cost $5,650 per semester, an increase of $55, or .98 percent.

The full rate schedule is available at nmu.edu/housing/residence-hall-rates.

NMU Dining Services has created the new “silver constant” meal pass, giving students the option of saving $105 per semester, said Gavin Leach, vice president for finance and administration. Students can upgrade to either the “gold constant” or “platinum constant” meal passes.

NMU Board Chairman Robert Mahaney said Leach and his team do a great job, not only with room and board, but with the university’s overall financial condition.

“It’s evidenced not just in room and board rates, it’s evidenced in the university’s balance sheet, it’s evidenced in the way we’ve been able to control costs better than any university in the state, and I bet you if we did a little research, we might be able to extend that to the nation,” Mahaney said.

Mahaney also commended the amount of progress that has been made on the university’s strategic plan.

“I’ll bet 75 percent of the items within the plan have a green box next to them, indicating they’ve been completed,” he said.

The strategic plan made the Strategic Resource Allocation project, Mahaney said, although the transformational initiatives identified through that are “not going to be easy and will require a lot of work.”

However, he pointed out NMU has made significant strides in the project.

Also on Friday, the board OK’d several capital projects: the medicinal plant chemistry laboratory renovation for $2.4 million and the Northern Center parking lot renovation for $600,000.

The popularity of the medicinal plant chemistry program was the reason behind the lab renovation, Leach said.

“Our growing enrollment has created more demand for lab space,” Leach said.

The added space will be on the third floor of the West Science building, he said.

In other action at Friday’s meeting, the board:

≤ Agreed that the Don H. Bottom University Center be renamed the Northern Center.

≤ Agreed that Alumni Relations’ operations and reporting structure be moved from the Extended Learning and Community Engagement Division to the NMU Foundation. According to the NMU Foundation, “This realignment is part of a larger restructuring effort in preparation for the upcoming fundraising campaign. The restructuring will support a holistic team-driven approach to advancement designed to build and maintain enduring, multifaceted and mutually beneficial relationships while achieving the most effective and efficient use of institutional and philanthropic resources.”

≤ Agreed to increase the athletic training master’s program lab course fee from $25 to $50 to cover the cost of expendable supplies in several courses, but not increase the $25 per lab course fee for five other athletic training master’s courses.

≤ Agreed to a contract extension for Kristi Robinia, associate dean-nursing education/director-School of Nursing, effective through June 30, 2024.

≤ Authorized a five-year extension for the university’s external auditing firm, Rehmann Robson LLC.

≤ Approved the Michigan Council on Arts and Cultural Affairs grant application, on behalf of the DeVos Art Museum.

≤ Approved the purchase of tower property in Stephenson for expansion of the Educational Access Network, which brings high-speed educational broadband to underserved communities throughout the Upper Peninsula.

≤ Learned that Mahaney and Trustee Steven Young will serve as ex-officio members on the NMU Foundation Board.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.