At a special meeting of Illinois State University’s Board of Trustees on Friday, two major infrastructure projects were given the green light to move forward, with funding approved to reboot plans for additional campus housing, and to build a new solar array providing renewable energy for the university.
The administration agreed to resuscitate a stalled housing project on the south end of campus, allocating $8 million to design a combined dorm and dining hall projected to add 900 beds to ISU’s residence hall capacity.
Consultants have said the university is short by 1,200 beds, and a new residence hall is years away. In the interim, ISU President Aondover Tarhule said the university has worked with landlords to establish “certified housing,” alerting students about off-campus living that meets certain standards.
“It’s not an ideal solution in the sense that it doesn’t create additional housing,” Tarhule said. “What we really need is additional housing. For that to happen, you’ve got to build new dorms, or private partners will have to build new complexes. That takes time.”
Vice President for Student Affairs Levester Johnson said ISU has loosened a requirement that students live in campus housing their first two years out of high school.
“At this point, we have to allow so many sophomores to live off campus,” Johnson said.
Students can apply for a lottery to live off campus within their first two years in college. Fraternity and sorority members get an automatic exemption.
Solar farm
Also Friday, trustees approved up to $16.5 million in borrowed funds to accelerate construction of a new solar farm on G.E. Road in Bloomington, the location of the College of Engineering.
Addressing questions from trustees, ISU finance chief Glen Nelson said the price tag doesn’t account for potential state and federal incentives that they hope will recoup about half the cost.
The rush to approve the project by the end of the year is related to a renewable energy tax credit set to expire in July 2026, requiring projects to have ground broken by then.
“The federal tax incentive is roughly 30%,” Nelson said. “And so if we would not receive the credit, that would lengthen the payback period by four years. We’d still have a positive cash flow on the project. We’d still have a positive ROI [return on investment]. But it would take a little bit longer to repay.”
Tarhule told WGLT the cost of repaying the borrowed funds to build the project is roughly equivalent to what they will save annually in energy costs through renewable power sources for College of Engineering facilities.
“The interest and capital repayments on that debt is about the same as our utility cost at that site if we didn’t have solar,” Tarhule said.
The lifespan of the equipment installed to deliver solar energy to the east Bloomington satellite campus is anticipated to exceed loan repayment by 5-10 years.
“All of the savings after that become savings to the university,” said Tarhule. “So, it was really a no-brainer.”
Union stalemate
During public comment at the board meeting, AFSCME Local 1110 President Chuck Carver urged the administration to reconsider wage increases, citing inflation and cost-of-living as primary concerns.
“Cost of living is real,” Tarhule said. “I completely understand that. I sympathize. We know that both as a university and also personally. That’s something we’re very cognizant of as we go into negotiations with any of our members.”
Local 1110 workers provide janitorial and grounds maintenance services for the university. They have not been able to agree on a contract that expired June 30. So far, the two parties have held 26 negotiation sessions. Carver said they requested a mediator for the next session in late January 2026.
Tarhule declined to comment directly on the status of union negotiations.
Naming recognition
Trustees also approved a request to rename the concert hall stage at ISU’s Center for Performing Arts after Jerry and Carole Ringer.
The north gym at Horton Field House and 213-office suite at CEFCU Arena will be officially renamed for Doug and Kathy Collins.
