Regents from MWSU Campus Watch on Vimeo.

The Board of Regents met on Nov. 6-7 to vote on funding for upcoming campus initiatives, including new residence halls to open in the fall of 2016.

The new residence halls were a big issue during the meeting as staff member Matthew Park, associate vice president for student affairs, answered questions from board members.

“I don’t think you can say one specific group that has actually been responsible for the vote,” Park says. “So the steering committee worked up a concept, but the students were the ones who gave there voice to it. The reason that there’s that parcel privacy wall, that was students, they said no we want privacy with the interaction outside. Really the students chimed in twice, once during the forum and during the sheared. I think we had about two dozen students present at the sheared, and they actually got to see the blue tape on the floor, and walk-in to see where the furniture would go and offer there support. I didn’t hear anything contrary.”

The Board members were set to vote on the new buildings but delayed the vote one day.

“I would rather the whole board be comfortable with this,” Shawn Hessing, board chairman, says. “This is to big to do that. I would be comfortable lynwood having, just asking again tomorrow if everyone is comfortable after you have all seen this and then we’ll ask for a vote.”

The board members did see the updated plans and voted to proceed with the projects, including the residence hall and a new addition to Fain Fine Arts for mass communication.