Virginia Tech Board of Visitors talks renovations, tuition changes and future plans

Virginia Tech No. 1 for best campus food (Image 1) (Copyright by WSLS - All rights reserved)

UPDATE:  The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors approves a 2.9% increase in tuition and mandatory fees for undergraduate students.

Next year, those fees will increase $367 for Virginia students.

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Out-of-state students will pay an additional $846.

In addition, the board approved a resolution to rename English Field to English Field at Union Park.

The name change honors Union Bank & Trust's $3.5 million commitment to the school.

The commitment will allow for major upgrades to the stadium.

The board also approved money to plan for the renovation of a residence hall and improvements to the health and counseling centers.

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BLACKSBURG (WSLS 10)-- The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors continues a two day meeting to discuss future plans for the university and make a decision on several big items of discussion.

There are renovation proposals for student dorms on campus, especially O'Shaughnessy Hall, a co-ed dorm that was built back in 1966. At this point, cadet housing has been the main focus for the past few years, but now that those updates are complete, the university is looking to update civilian dorms as well.

Another big decision on the table today, compensation for graduate assistants and a raise in pay.

"They teach a lot of the introduction courses," says Mark Owczarski, the Assistant Vice President for University Relations. "We want to attract the best graduate assistants and the best way to do that is through competitive compensation. We'll be looking at a proposal to increase their compensation for next year, so we can attract the best graduate students out there."

Many parents and students are also concerned about tuition changes for next year. After several years of increases, students can expect some good news to come out of this meeting.

"We'll be putting forward our proposal of what tuition and fees should be next year," says Owczarski. "I can say that the fees we're looking at are a very very small increase, the smallest we've had in more than fifteen years."

With a new president and provost introduced to Virginia Tech in the past two years, discussions on the future of the university will take place as well.