Repairs and medical reagnts costs increase

The NIU Board of Trustees recommended several noteworthy budgeting items at its June 4 meeting.

The BOT recommended allocating capital funds to repairs of the main steam tunnel from the East Heating Plant, which has been deteriorating and is in need of repair, said Eddie Williams, executive vice president and chief of operations for Finance and Facilities.

The BOT has been requesting funding for the project since fiscal year 2004, according to the BOT meeting handbook. The recommendation is intended to jump start the approval process to repair the main, once capital funds are released, Williams said.

“Life safety concerns and the potential disruption of steam distribution during winter months have compelled the university to move this project up to top priority,” according to the meeting handbook.

If NIU does not receive funding from the capital budget, the Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee needs to figure out an alternative way to fund the main reconstruction, said BOT Chair Cherilyn Murer.

The BOT also approved a contract for a locked rate for for the university at $2.041 a gallon. Transportation Department Manager Bill Finucane said the new price is about $1.20 cheaper per gallon. The 2009 cost was $3.22 per gallon, and the 2008 cost was $2.72 a gallon, according to the BOT minutes from June 2008.

The BOT also approved a $700,000, three–year contract for medical reagents. The new contract is $200,000 more than last year’s contract, Williams said.
“It’s frightening to see that kind of a continued increase in health care expenditure,” said trustee Manny Sanchez.

The increased cost is partially due to newly applied medical technology.

“The testing Health Services is doing now is through a urine specimen as opposed to swabbing,” said Dr. Linda Hermann, assistant vice–president for Student Health & Wellness. “You can understand why males in our population would be in favor of this kind of technology. Also, it removes some barriers for students coming in for STD screening to have a urine specimen instead of a swab specimen.”

The BOT also recommended renaming two buildings on campus to better describe the functions of the buildings; included renaming the Wesley Building as the Academic Advising Center and the Speech and Hearing Clinic as the University Police and Public Safety Building, Williams said. The BOT agreed to recommend naming the new chiller plant on campus the East Campus Chilled Water Plant. The BOT votes on final approval of the recommendations at the June 25 meeting.

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