Purdue News
Purdue News
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September 1, 2000 Trustees give approval to state funding requestWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's Board of Trustees today (Friday, 9/1) gave final approval to the institution's state budget request for 2001-2003. The trustees also approved spending $2.4 million to develop a high-speed computer network infrastructure connection to the Internet2, the installation of air conditioning and sprinklers in Shreve residence hall, and the renaming of Entomology Hall. Purdue's funding request includes $13 million for the West Lafayette campus that would help establish a new undergraduate program in biomedical engineering, improve computational science research and instruction, and enhance genomic and biotechnology research support, said Kenneth Burns, executive vice president and treasurer. For the regional campuses, Purdue also is requesting funding for quality improvements: $1.6 million annually to expand information technology programs at Purdue Calumet; $1.75 million for economic development and workforce retraining efforts at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne; and $500,000 for new faculty and equipment for electrical engineering technology, science, and computer technology instruction at Purdue North Central. Purdue also will ask state legislators to boost funding by $1.4 million for the Fort Wayne campus and $650,000 for the North Central campus, to make up for historically low funding levels when compared to support for other regional campuses around the state. An additional $1.17 million will be needed for the Calumet, Fort Wayne and North Central campuses to serve the increasing enrollment at those locations. The university also is requesting an additional $889,200 for the operation of facilities on those campuses that will be opened during the next two years. Purdue also will request additional funds for new initiatives in the School of Technology Statewide Delivery System, agriculture research and extension, and the Technical Assistance Program and Technical Information Service. Purdue and other state-assisted universities annually submit prioritized requests for construction and other capital items. The trustees approved a plan where Purdue University and Indiana University will contract with GTE to install fiber-optic cable that will connect the West Lafayette and Bloomington campuses to the Internet2 hub located at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. The infrastructure will provide both universities with data connection speeds that may approach 2,400 megabytes per second. A standard Internet connection at the West Lafayette campus is 10 megabytes per second. The Internet2 project is designed to allow real-time, interactive and three-dimensional computer programs and presentations to be shared among participating institutions. The project will be paid for with state funds that were appropriated in 1999 for the project with the state's fiscal agent, Intelnet Commission of the State of Indiana. In other business, the trustees: • Approved spending $4.5 million over the next three years to install air conditioning and sprinklers in Shreve Hall. The renovation is in response to student requests for air-conditioned housing and to bring the building up to current fire safety codes. • Renamed Entomology Hall as Agricultural Hall. The building, which will be renovated and occupied by the Department of Forestry, had been know as Agricultural Hall prior to 1969. • Passed a resolution that will allow university officials to affiliate with a private veterinary clinic to be built near the North Central campus. After the clinic is built, students in Purdue's veterinary technology program could participate in clinical practice. • Approved a job order contract with F.H. Paschen of Des Plaines, Ill. The contract provides a wide range of standard construction and renovation services for facilities on the West Lafayette campus. Source: Kenneth Burns, (765) 494-9705; kpburns@purdue.edu Writer: J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-0371; mwillis@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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