The Student Government Association (SGA) chose a site in front of the Student Center and adjacent to Ferguson Chapel last month. The board had to approve the site because it is providing $225,000 of the $300,000 it will cost to build the amphitheater. SGA is providing $50,000 and Housing & Residence Life is providing $25,000

The board also authorized the administration to renew the contract with Barnes & Noble to operate the campus bookstore. The agreement extends the contract to June 30, 2013.

As part of the new contract, Barnes & Noble started a textbook rental program this semester. The company also spent $60,000 on improvements to the bookstore during the summer. The university provided $50,000 for the renovations. The contract also guarantees the university at least $350,000 annually from bookstore sales.

In other business, the board voted to ask the state legislature to transfer $25 million from the university's operating account to its capital improvement account. The money will be used to expand the HPER Center and build Bear Hall.

The university plans on almost doubling the size of the HPER Center, adding a 25-yard swimming pool, four raquetball courts, a fitness center, aerobic rooms, a climbing wall, a lounge, lockers and offices.

Bear Hall is a five-story residential hall being built behind the visitor's side of Estes Stadium. It will have 385 beds and a large lobby with a kitchen and laundry. The top floor includes 12 20-person skyboxes that overlook the football field.

Representatives for the departments are to schedule an appointment with the commmittee sometime between Nov. 7 and Nov. 11. If a department doesn't meet with the SGA committee, the committee will present a resolution to the Board of Trustees recommending that the fee be removed.

Each department will be required to present:

• History of the fee
• Student input process for the fee
• Executive summary explaining the need for the fee.
• Five-year budget history
• Planned expenditures/projects for the year
• Expenditure report for fiscal year 2011, and what they expect for fiscal year 2012

Here is a list of the 15 fees that will be reviewed.

SGA also supported a resolution by the Faculty Senate to appoint Tom Courtway as the university president for a period not exceeding three years. Courtway become interim president last month after Allen Meadors resigned. SGA members said they trusted Courtway to run the university and plan to introduce their own resolution supporting Courtway next week.

In other business, SGA rejected a proposal to pay for food for a Leadership Council seminar by a vote of 27-7. The Finance Committee unanimously rejected the proposal, as well.

The vote was taken at brief meeting at 9 a.m. yesterday with board members Rush Harding, Victor Green and Bobby Reynolds attending by telephone. Pam Massey, the director of the office of internal audit, also attended by telephone and recommended that the board suspend its investigations because the Arkansas State Police had begun an investigation.

The board had ordered an internal audit earlier this month to determine the details of Aramark's offer to donate $700,000 for the renovation of the president's house in exchange for a seven-year extension of its contract to provide food services on campus. Meadors resigned Sept. 2 after admitting that he misled the board by characterizing the donation as a gift.

Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland requested an investigation by the state police last Thursday citing the amount of evidence involved. A state police officer has been assigned to do the investigation.

SGA voted 16-13 last week to endorse the efforts of the Green Bear Project, a group of Honors College students who plans to ask the Board of Trustees next month to pass a resolution providing permanent protection for the 17.5-acre reserve. The senators split over the issue of making the protection permanent. The senators voting against the idea expressed concern that the university might someday need the space for facilities.

Several students attended the meeting to endorse protecting the nature reserve. They want the board to create a conservation easement that would allow the university to partner with the Arkansas National Heritage Commission. According to Steven Runge, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the university could qualify for as much as $4 million in grants if the easement were created.

The Green Bear Project is collecting 1,000 signatures on a petition requesting the protection that it will present to the board at its next meeting May 6. The board voted late last year to extend the moratorium on development of the reserve for five years.

In other business:

• Approved a resolution to create a diversity committee to address the needs of international students, transfer students, and non-traditional students.
• Allocated $9,500 to Sigma Tau Gamma for a pig roast and concert.
• Provided $2,000 for a mural that will be painted by freshman student Steven Overturf.
• Gave $5,000 to the Alumni Association for their annual Night of Distinction, an awards event that will include a concert by country music singer Lee Greenwood.

The UCA board of trustees has approved spending $510,000 to add another 20,000 square feet of the patterned concrete walkways. The university spent $500,000 last year building the sidewalks, which are designed to resemble bricks. The decorative sidewalks cost about 20 percent more than the traditional brushed concrete sidewalks that are most common on campus.

The money will be split between two projects. One of the sidewalks will connect Christian Cafeteria with the Student Center. The other will be between Arkansas Hall and the Snow Fine Arts Center. The university will add another $50,000 to build benches along the sidewalks.

The board approved the plan unanimously and without discussion. President Allen Meadors has said that many of the existing sidewalks are unsafe and some need to be elevated to avoid flooding.

Work on the new sidewalks is scheduled to begin this summer.

The board also approved two increases in student fees. Room and board fees will increase by 3 percent and meal plan fees will go up by 3.8 percent in the fall semester. The increases will generate about $300,000 in additional revenue to the university.

In other business, board member Rush Harding III offered to donate $112,500 for the construction of an amphitheater in the Student Center courtyard. Harding challenged the board to match his donation. The board voted unanimously to provide the money. The amphitheater will cost about $300,000.

SGA has pledged $50,000 for the project as part of its "Think Big" campaign last semester. UCA Housing also has donated $25,000 for the project.

The HLC team will be meeting with students, facility, staff, administrators, and community representatives to make judgment on UCA's compliance with good practice, federal requirements, and the HLC policies.

The HLC's schedule of meetings is listed below.

Monday -

• 10:30 a.m. - Council of Deans - Wingo 214
• 1 p.m. - Self-Study Steering Committee - Wingo 214
• 2 p.m. - Open forum with the UCA faculty - Board Room, Wingo Hall
• 3 p.m. - University Research Council/Graduate Program Directors/Students - Board Room
• 3:30 p.m. - Academic Planning and Assessment Committee - Board Room
• 5 p.m. - Board of Trustees - Board Room
• 5 p.m. - Open forum with UCA Students - Student Center, Room 208.

Tuesday -

• 8:30 a.m. - Online Programs/Instructional Technology Group - Wingo 315
• 10:30 a.m. - Open forum with the UCA staff - Board Room
• 11 a.m. - Open forum with UCA faculty - Board Room
• 1 p.m. - Executive Staff - Wingo 210
• 1:30 p.m. - Graduate Council - Board Room
• 1:40 p.m. - General Education Council - Wingo 214
• 2 p.m. - Undergraduate Council - Board Room

The HLC also will have impromptu meetings throughout the week.

UCA was last accredited in April 2000.