ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. – Western Kentucky University’s Board of Regents approved a $46 student fee for campus rebuilding as part of an 8.8 percent tuition and fee increase for the 2006-07 school year.

Residential undergraduate tuition and fees will rise $240 to $2,976 beginning with the fall 2006 semester. The rate would stay the same for the spring 2007 semester.

The $46 per semester fee will be used for three projects: renovation of the Ivan Wilson Fire Arts Center, construction of a Student Health Service building and completion of a wireless campus initiative.

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education approved the tuition portion of the increase earlier this week.

The board, which met Friday at the Historic State Theater Complex in Elizabethtown, also approved the following:

*A 3 percent salary increase for President Gary Ransdell. The increase is in line with increases expected to be available for faculty and staff in the 2006-07 budget and does not reflect the very favorable evaluation Dr. Ransdell received, Regent Earl Fischer said. Fischer, of Dallas, chaired the presidential evaluation committee.

*Renaming Potter College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences as Potter College of Arts and Letters, effective July 1. *A new master’s degree in technology management offered through the Department of Architectural and Manufacturing Sciences. All courses in the program, which will begin in spring 2007, will be offered online.

*A new undergraduate minor in outdoor leadership offered through the Department of Physical Education and Recreation.

*A new certificate program in advanced accounting studies offered through the Department of Accounting.

*The purchase of property at 1410 College St. for $71,500. The site of the former Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house will be used for a faculty/staff parking lot. - WKU - a leading American university with international reach - More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

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