Auburn University President Jay Gogue announced his plans to retire during the Board of Trustees meeting on Friday, Sept. 16 at the VCOM conference room.
Gogue said his decision was based on his self-evaluation earlier this summer.
“They [the board] asked when is the time to begin the new search,” Gogue said. “You guys can begin the search process for a new president.”
During the meeting the board discussed future and ongoing projects, as well as the status of the University’s students, faculty and facilities prior to Gogue’s announcement.
Dan King, associate vice president for facilities, began the meeting by bringing project approvals before the board.
The Graduate Business Building construction, Haley Center Quad renovation, Culinary Arts building construction and Airport Maintenance Hangar projects were on the agenda for the meeting.
King said he wanted to discuss the proposal for new student housing in further detail as it is still in its conceptual stage and will impact students.
“This project will have a lot of impact on campus,” King
said. “I’d really like to take a look take at some of the background on this
project.”
King said student housing has been an ongoing issue for first year students as
the University has not been able to offer every incoming freshman on-campus
housing for some years now.
“Our freshmen class this year is about 4,500 students,” King said. “It has typically been in the 4,000 range, but the last two years have increased from 4,600 freshman in 2014 and to a record 4,900 in 2015.”
The project would be an ongoing construction project to take place over the course of 10 to 12 years in the hopes 2500 beds would eventually be added overall to student housing, King said.
“We’re still working on the details of a comprehensive strategy,” King said.
Jesse Westerhouse, SGA president, spoke to the board about some projects going through senate right now.
Westerhouse said although students enjoy the flexible nature of having an open-seating student section, they are still getting used to the new ticketing system.
SGA is also working with administration to make further improvements to Student Counseling Services, Westerhouse said.
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