Eastern’s room and board rates will increase by about 7.7 percent if passed by the Board of Trustees Executive Committee at its Friday meeting.

The BOT executive meeting will be held at 1 p.m. in the President’s Conference Room of the Livingston C. Lord Administration Building.

Room and board rates will increase by an average of $162 per semester, but that could be increased by an additional $10 per semester if the newspaper program is continued.

The rates also could be further increased by $7 per semester if the decision is made to place paper towels in the restrooms of all the residence halls, according to the BOT agenda.

“We are trying to keep the cost of Eastern affordable,” Bill Schnackel, former director of university housing and dining, previously said.

According to a letter from Schnackel to Lou Hencken, vice president for student affairs, the initial increase is based on

A $.01 postage increase

A 4 percent salary increase for full time employees

A 3.5 percent budgeted increase in food costs

A cash stipend increase of $50 for resident assistants per semester

An increase in operating costs associated with inflation and additional services

The dedication of approximately $200,000 to a new student residence hall scholarship program.

An increase in the departmental contribution to “Fixed Costs” to accommodate the Century 2000 Network, the new Cable television system and several large capital projects.

The increases also are based on the assumption that the occupancy of the residence halls and Greek court will maintain an average of 90 percent and that 60 percent of students select either the five or 10 plus meal plans, 25 percent select the 12 plus plan and 15 percent select the 15 plus meal plan.

Schnackel previously said many students have switched to less expensive meal plans over the past semester. As a result, the university lost about $250,000.

In addition, double room rates will increase by $50 per semester, and deluxe double room rates will increase by $30. Also, summer and intersession rates will increase by about $21.

University apartments and University Court rates were increased by an average of 3 percent at the Jan. 22 BOT meeting.

Members of the executive committee include Vice Chair Nate Adderson, member Betsy Mitchell and member Roger Dettro.

The BOT executive committee also will vote on approving phase two of an energy conservation project performed by Arlington Heights based Honeywell Inc.

The cost of the project has yet to be determined, but the purchase approval is listed as a purchase of $100,000 or more.

Under the terms of the agreement, Honeywell Inc. would perform an energy audit of Eastern’s campus to identify energy conservation projects, according to the agenda.

After projects have been identified, Honeywell Inc. would buy and install the needed equipment and oversee the construction of the project.

Honeywell guarantees the university will attain annual energy or operational savings equal to or greater than the annual costs of financing the project, according to the agenda. Honeywell Inc. will supplement the savings if they are less than the guaranteed amount.

The net result is that Eastern will receive approximately $6.2 million of capital improvements without a special appropriation.

In other business, the BOT executive committee will vote on approving purchase items for phase three of the chilled water loop project, which will cost about $1 million.

The project includes all labor and materials for the general heating and electrical work for the project, according to the agenda.

The phase consists of Lawson, Andrew, Thomas and Taylor halls’ air conditioning systems being connected with the mini chilled water loop and McAfee Gym and the Physical Science building being connected to the main campus chilled water loop.

The general construction bid was awarded to Grunloh Construction of Effingham for $106,500.

The heating construction bid was awarded to Reliable Plumbing & Heating of Savoy for $868,050, and the electrical construction bid was awarded to Commercial Electric Inc. of Mattoon for $18,345.