Inside INdiana Business is reporting that Purdue University trustees have approved a total of more than $60 million in state budget requests for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 fiscal years. During a meeting Friday, trustees also approved moving forward on two new residence halls and a new deanship for the College of Education.
The budget requests include $31.2 million for fiscal year 2019-2020 and $32 million for fiscal year 2020-2021. The line item requests include funding for salary and benefit increases, equipment, programming and other items. State legislators will approve appropriations as part of the budget-writing process during next year’s legislative session.
The board also approved the terms of a public-private partnership to build two new residence halls on the West Lafayette campus. The contract with Plenary Properties Purdue LLC will result in nearly 1,300 new beds in university housing. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year, with both residence halls set to be ready for the 2020-2021 academic year.
At Friday’s meeting, trustees also ratified Nancy Marchand-Martella as the Suzi and Dale Gallagher Dean of Education, named in honor of a gift from Suzi Gallagher, a 1970 liberal arts graduate and Dale Gallagher, a 1969 graduate in industrial engineering. The board also approved five named and distinguished faculty.