On Friday, Miami's Board of Trustees is convening for their bi-monthly meeting to vote on expansions to the university's parking lots and quasi-endowments for the College of Education, Health and Society.
As more services flock to Armstrong Student Center and Shriver Center -- the career services center is moving to Armstrong in June 2017, while the package center will be relocated to Shriver in August -- the demand for parking will increase.
Despite this, much of the nearby parking (Maple Street, MacMillan and Shriver West parking lots) has been limited to prospective students, leaving many students and faculty displaced. To resolve the new parking problems, the Board of Trustees is voting on a resolution to allocate $6 million to infrastructure improvements in the central campus area, including expansion of six parking lots.
The renovated (in some cases, expanded) areas will include the two lots near Shriver Center, the lot near MacMillan Center and the lots near Cook Field, according to David Creamer, Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Services and Treasurer.
The Board of Trustees Finance and Audit Committee have proposed that bids from construction firms be received in April and that construction begins after graduation. The first phase of the project will be completed by August 2017. The remainder will be completed by November 2017.
The Board of Trustees is also voting on a resolution to approve several new "quasi-endowments" -- essentially, an earmarked section of Miami's $560 million total endowment -- for the College of Education, Health and Society. The total of all new quasi-endowments is $8,050,000.
Of that amount, $2.5 million is allocated to EHS scholarships, $2.5 million is allocated to EHS discretionary spending, $1.5 million is allocated to discretionary spending for the Department of Kinesiology and Health, $1.5 million is allocated to equipment and facilities for the Department of Kinesiology and Health and $50,000 is allocated to the "long-term priorities" of the the Department of Family Science and Social Work.