Editor's note: Additional information about the meeting will be posted on May 24.

4:59 p.m., May 23, 2007--The University of Delaware Board of Trustees approved the construction of a new Enrollment Services Center, set new housing and dining rates and fees and thanked several benefactors during its semiannual meeting May 23 in the Trabant University Center.

The Enrollment Services Center will be constructed along South College Avenue at Winslow Road, in what is now a parking area adjacent to the UD Visitors Center. The new center will house undergraduate admissions, financial aid and the registrar's office.

The board also authorized the administration to proceed with renovations to the Russell residence hall complex, the second floor administrative offices at Morris Library and Conover Hall, and to replace the roof at Rodney Dining Hall.

In other action, the board approved resolutions that:

• Increased residence hall rates by 9.5 percent, with the cost of a traditional multiple-student room increasing to $4,748 beginning with the fall semester;
• Increased dining plan rates by an average of 5.6 percent beginning with the fall semester;
• Increased the Student Health Service fee from $205 to $220 per semester, from $55 to $59 for Winter Session and from $74 to $79 for Summer Session;
• Increased the Comprehensive Fee from $72 to $78 per semester, and increased the Student Center Fee from $103 to $107 per semester; and
• Changed the name of the Department of Linguistics to the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science; approved the master of fine arts as the terminal degree in art and disestablished the master of arts in art; approved permanent status for the hospitality information management program; supported a collaborative occupational therapy program between UD and Thomas Jefferson University; approved majors in Black American studies and cognitive science; and approved a bachelor of science degree in math education.

The board also expressed gratitude to several benefactors:

• The late Ruth E. McNeal, whose revocable trust has provided more than $3.2 million to fund McNeal scholarships to UD students;
• The late Elizabeth Hellen Pattison, a UD alumna whose endowment of more than $100,000 will fund stipends for undergraduates pursuing research in population, migration and related matters;
• Steven C. and Carol M. Taylor, UD alumni who have funded a charitable gift annuity with $100,000 in assets to be used to support the UD baseball program;
• Patricia K. Robertson, a UD alumna, and her husband, Dr. Charles W. Robertson Jr., who have made a gift of $390,000 to the Joanne Currier Daiber Fellowship established by the late UD professor Franklin C. Daiber, Mrs. Robertson's mentor, to honor his wife; and
• David A. Plastino, a UD alumnus, who has pledged $500,000 for the purpose of establishing endowed enrichment grants that allow undergraduate students who exhibit extraordinary talent, promise and imagination pursue a passionate interest to a degree not otherwise possible. The pledged funds will also support undergraduate summer research fellowships in chemistry and biochemistry.