The OU Board of Trustees formally accepted a $137 million plan Saturday to renovate university residence and dining halls during the next 20 years.

The trustees will consider an 8 percent surcharge on room-and-board fees at the June budget-setting meeting, Gary North, vice president for administration, said.

For example, a double room rate would increase from $4,698 to around $5,073. The university would create a renovation fund with the revenue generated from the surcharge.

By raising residence hall rates and putting extra money aside in a surplus to make money off interest rates, more money will be available in the future for residence halls, OU President Robert Glidden said.

North also said an additional $2.1 million currently paid annually for housing bonds would become available in 2012 when the bonds are retired.

Ira Fink and Associates, a California-based consulting firm, was hired last spring to review and analyze current and future needs of residence halls and dining facilities. Fink evaluated the condition of the facilities and presented a renovation plan to the board.

The average age of all housing facilities is in excess of 34 years. The report advised OU to renovate residence halls rather than rebuild entire halls.

The board accepted the plan as a guideline, but each specific renovation project would have to be brought back before the board priot to being implemented, Glidden said.

Fink said his plan meets the needs students will have in five to 10 years, but it is important to monitor the plan to be sure. For example, he wants to add electrical outlets, place microfridge units in every dorm room and reconfigure bathrooms.

"Many of the recommendations we will accept and try to do," Glidden said. "It was a good guideline in telling us what we need to do."

Fink also said his plan will adjust halls to last another generation or two.

"It's hard to predict the future," Fink said. "The only way to know whether it will work or not is to put the plan into works."

The proposal outlined a yearly renovation schedule and suggested a pay-as-you-go plan as a way of paying for the renovations of the residence halls and dining facilities.

Glidden said he likes the proposal because it lays out what needs to be done.

"He's worked out a very clever schedule that will help us," he said.

The first halls to begin renovation probably will be Tiffin and Jefferson halls, Glidden said.

But nothing is set in stone, Glidden said. The administration first needs to look at where they are going to put these students if any of the buildings need to be closed for a full year. If Jefferson Hall closes for a full year, administrators will have to look at how well other dining halls can adjust.

The time of the renovations also makes a difference. Administrators will examine when to complete these renovations, because enrollment drops between fall and spring as some students leave, Glidden said.

It would make sense to do more renovating in the spring when they will have extra beds, he said.

Trustees also discussed the recommendation of adding air conditioning to all residence halls. This option was not included in the payment methods of Fink's plan.

The air conditioning could generate additional revenue because more buildings could be used over the summer.

Glidden said administrators would have to conduct a financial analysis to see whether OU can afford to add air conditioning into more residence halls.

Trustee Patricia Ackerman said she cannot imagine a hall over the summer without air conditioning, because people have grown up with air conditioning.

Glidden agreed and said the summer programs pay for themselves.

"We are constrained right now to some extent because we don't have air conditioning," Glidden said. "I don't think we've been aggressive enough in selling summer school to our own students."

He said he does not want to see a plan that has no air conditioning at all.

Glidden said he likes the pay-as-you-go plan but worries about the fact that the air conditioning issue is not factored into it.

Fink's plan also recommended enrollment increases in the future could present the need for on-campus, single-student apartment housing.

Glidden said this might be something the university will have to look into down the road and decide, if it is needed, whether it is the university's responsibility.

"We need to find out what part the university, if any, plays in it," he said.