The Board of Trustees unanimously approved the $953,000 expenditure Friday for renovations in the old textbook rental, which will become the new home for the Honors College.

Stephen Shrake, the associate director of design and construction in the Facilities Planning and Management Office, said the renovations should be completed by Summer 2013.

The expenditure funds will go toward replacing stairwells and flooring, constructing masonry foundation walls, extending the chilled water loop to Pemberton Hall for air conditioning, revising the sprinkler system and updating the electrical wire system.

William Weber, the vice president for business affairs, said the transformation of the old textbook rental, which connects to Pemberton Hall, into the new Honors College is a part of the Campus Master Plan.

“The Honors College will be located on the second floor and the first floor will serve as swing space for us to house offices when we transition to the new science building,” Weber said.

An elevator will also be installed using American Disability Association funds, he said.

The trustees approved the first expenditure for the project at its Sept. 16 meeting for about $269,000, which funded planning and design.

The bulk of the $3.5 million project will be constructed by the university’s Renovations and Alterations Department, which will complete about $2 million worth of work. The Illinois Capital Development Board will perform work on the project totaling about $539,000.

In addition to the renovation expenditure, the Board also unanimously approved two contracts for athletic personnel.

Jay Spoonhour, the new head coach for the men’s basketball team, has a three-year contract from April 10 to April 9, 2015.

He will be paid a salary of $160,000 with the possibility of incentives such as receiving an extra $2,500 if the team meets or exceeds an average GPA of 2.8 or $5,000 if the team completes 20 victories over NCAA Division I opponents.

The trustees also approved a contract extension for Brady Sallee, the head coach for the women’s basketball team, from May 10 to May 9, 2015.

During the meeting, Rachel Fisher, the director of the Student Community Service Office, announced that students have completed more than 100,000 hours of community service since August 2011.

On March 12, Eastern received a spot on the 2012 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

Trustee Kristopher Goetz said it was refreshing to hear about student culture in addition to the usual budget business.

“What makes an organization great is not only the quantitative performance but the qualitative performance of what makes students become young adults and integrated members of society,” Goetz said.

The Board approved 19 tenure recommendations, which will go into effect in the fall.

Those awarded tenure and the status of associate professor consist of: Wesley Allan of psychology, Lola Burnham of journalism, Ahmed Abou-Zaid of economics, David Boggs of business, Barbara Carlsward of biological sciences, Irene Coromina of Spanish, Carrie Dale of education, Gene Deerman of sociology and anthropology, Christiane Eydt-Beebe of foreign languages, Jill Fahy of music, Mark Kattenbraker of kinesiology and sports studies, Eunseong Kim of journalism, Jeannie Ludlow of English, David Melton of technology, Kamlesh Parwani of mathematics and computer science, Gopal Periyannan of chemistry, Luke Steinke of technology and Larry White of business.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].