When the A&M System Board of Regents meets Wednesday, of most interest locally will be what has now been titled the Kyle Field stadium redevelopment project.
Originally pegged at $425 million dollars, the regents will be asked to change the project scope and budget. Details are not in the nearly 500 page agenda book. That will be revealed during the regents meeting. The chancellor is also asking for authority to negotiate funding agreements with the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the City of College Station, and Brazos County. A change in state law is required to allow hotel occupancy tax money meant for the now-closed College Station Conference Center to help fund Kyle Field. In return, off-campus groups are supposed to have the chance to rent on-campus facilities at cost.
Click HERE to read the Kyle Field item from the regents agenda book.
In a related item, a system-wide construction update includes a $16 million dollar expansion at the Bright Center. At 43 percent completion, it is expected to open in mid-September. This includes a new sports nutrition center on the north side and a larger main lobby area on the south side.
Regents business also includes a proposal to guarantee tuition and fees starting in the fall of 2014. The goal is increase the number of undergraduate students who complete their work in four years. One idea calls for a four-year rate, something higher for six years, and a third rate if it takes longer than six years.
Click HERE to read the guaranteed tuition & fee proposal from the regents agenda book.
2013 tuition and fee schedules includes for the first time, the law school the system is purchasing from Texas Wesleyan and an $1,000 a semester increase in the Mays Business School MBA program fee.
The flagship campus is asking to expand its presence in Houston. For two years, the Mays Business School has had a MBA program in the area of the Sam Houston Tollway and Interstate 10. President Bowen Loftin has asked to increase floor space by 25 percent, to almost 30,000 square feet. It would also be used for other graduate and continuing education programs along with hosting alumni and future students.
Click HERE to read the Houston space lease proposal from the regents agenda book.
Wednesday’s meeting is the first for newly appointed Regents Tony Buzbee of Friendswood, A&M class of 1990, and Charles Schwartz of Houston, whose degrees are from Texas and Harvard. They were recently named to the board along with the reappointment of Morris Foster of Austin.