The dormitory, built in 1951 and located at 600 E. Madison, houses about 1,180 students as well as the university’s honors program. The project would entail renovating 106,700 square feet of the building’s first two floors, and includes expanded student dining facilities, community spaces, updated bathrooms and other infrastructure upgrades.

In brief remarks to the board, Royster Harper – UM’s vice president for student affairs – described the work that would be done, saying it would begin in May of 2013 and take about a year. She also alluded to comments in the media that had referred to UM student housing as luxurious, and she assured the board that this was not the case. The comments make her “quite angry,” she said, adding that renovations include things like putting in shower doors rather than “plastic curtains that sort of stick to your rear.” The changes are simply trying to improve the student experience, Harper concluded.

This brief was filed from the Michigan Union’s Anderson Room on the Ann Arbor campus, where regents held their September meeting.

Room and board costs for a double residence hall room would increase from $9,468 to $9,752. A staff memo accompanying the proposal indicates that the 3% increase for residence halls is divided into two components: 1% for increased operating costs; and 2% for residence hall renovations.

In April, Eastern Michigan University’s board of regents approved an aggregate 4.95% room and board increase.

Housing rates are typically set by regents at their May meeting. This year, it was handled as part of the overall budget approvals for the coming fiscal year.

This brief was filed from the Michigan Union Ballroom on the Ann Arbor campus, where regents held their June meeting.

Regents authorized an estimated $11.95 million renovation to Baits II, located on UM’s north campus. The work includes infrastructure updates and reconfiguration of community spaces. The 175,000-square-foot, five-building complex was built in 1967 and houses about 575 students. The project will be designed by UM’s department of architecture, engineering and construction, in collaboration with Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber Inc., a Grand Rapids firm. The work is expected to be completed in the summer of 2013. The nearby Baits I residence hall, which houses about 570 students, will be closed at the end of this academic year because of infrastructure issues, and it’s unclear it if will be reopened.

Regents had approved the $116 million “deep” renovation of East Quad at their July 2011 meeting, and authorized Integrated Design Solutions as the project’s architect. On Nov. 17, regents signed off on a schematic design of the project. The 300,000-square-foot residence hall – located at 701 E. University, between Hill and Willard – houses about 860 students and the Residential College, a living-learning community started in the 1960s. The project is part of a campus-wide ”Residential Life Initiative” first presented to regents in September 2004.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the Fleming administration building on the UM campus in Ann Arbor. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

The pending renovation has caused concern in some quarters. At the regents’ May 19, 2011 meeting, philosophy professor Carl Cohen passionately urged regents to intercede in the renovation of East Quad in order to prevent the Residential College from being pushed into what he described as smaller, inadequate space. The RC is a living-learning program that Cohen helped start in the 1960s – its housed at East Quad. If regents did nothing, he said, “your Residential College will atrophy and fade away.” A staff memo on the renovations states that the RC will be renovated to meet “current academic standards.”

The entire project will be designed by the architectural firm of Integrated Design Solutions. Staff will return with a construction schedule and approval of a schematic design at a future meeting.

This brief was filed from the boardroom of the Fleming administration building, on UM’s Ann Arbor campus. A more detailed report will follow: [link]

A staff memo accompanying the proposal indicates that the 3% increase for residence halls is divided into two components: 1% for increased operating costs; and 2% for residence hall renovations. Room and board costs for a single residence hall room would increase from $10,970 to $11,300. A double would increase from $9,192 to $9,468.

In April, Eastern Michigan University’s board of regents approved an aggregate 2.15% room and board increase, and a 3% increase for university apartments. A list of housing rate increases at peer institutions is provided as part of the regents meeting packet. At the top end is Duke University, with a 5.9% increase. A 5.1% increase is slated for Michigan State. Among other Big Ten universities, UM is at the low end of rate increases – only Purdue University has a lower rate increase, at 2%. However, UM’s room and board costs are among the highest in that group – only Northwestern and Purdue cost more.