“Our students spend a great deal of time in their campus homes, which are vitally important for their social experiences, to their academic studies and to their personal identity within the University community.”

Harper listed improvements common spaces, temperature control and privacy in community bathrooms as key aspects of the project.

Architectural firm Integrated Design Solutions LLC will draft a proposal to be submitted to the regents at a later date.

Regents approve museum collections transfer to Varsity Drive building

The board also approved plans to renovate the off-campus Varsity Drive building and prepare it to hold dry museum research collections from several Central Campus buildings.

Additionally, the project will relocate related lab spaces and select offices of the anthropology, paleontology and zoology departments currently at the Ruthven Museums Building, the Campus Safety Services Building and the C.C. Little Science Building to the renovated space on Varsity Drive.

“It’s a very large project but it will really simplify and improve the research and accessibility to the collections,” Slottow said.

Funded by LSA, the $27.5-million project is expected to improve administrative efficiency by combining the collections with wet specimen collections currently located in the Varsity Drive building.

Located off East Ellsworth Road between State Street and Stone School Road, the building is currently a warehouse. Renovations will include temperature and humidity controls, as well as architectural, mechanical and electrical improvements to facilitate the new additions.

Architectural firm SmithGroupJJR will design the 71,000 square feet Varsity Drive building renovation. These plans will also be submitted for approval at a future meeting.

Schematic Design for College of Pharmacy renovations approved

The board approved schematic design plans to improve the main entrance and 12,000 square feet of the basement and first floor of the College of Pharmacy Building.

The school’s budget will fund the $2.6-million project and completion is projected for next fall.

In a message to the board, Slottow wrote the project will “address accessibility issues and provide a more welcoming entry.”

University appointments approved

The regents approved the appointment of Martha Pollack, the University’s vice provost of budgetary affairs, to be the University’s next provost.

The announcement was made in January that Coleman would present Pollack for the two year appointment. Pollack will replace University Provost Phil Hanlon, who is leaving the University in July to become the next president of his alma mater, Dartmouth College.

Pollack currently works in Hanlon’s office crafting the University budget, including the general fund budget, as well as helping with the space-saving initiatives to better use classroom space and other projects.

A University faculty member since 2000, Pollack was previously dean of the School of Information.

In her new role as provost, Pollack will oversee the budget as the University’s chief budgetary officer. She will also advise academic affairs as the University’s chief academic officer. She will continue to serve as a professor in the School of Information and the College of Engineering.

Additionally, the regents approved LSA Dean Terrence McDonald to become the director of the Bentley Historical Library when his term as LSA dean is over on Aug. 31. The regents also approved Mark West, the Law School’s associate dean for academic affairs and Nippon Life Professor of Law, as the next Law School dean.

Peter Shahin, Jen Calfas and Paige Pearcy contributed reporting.