A new budget, new construction on campus and increased enrollment topped the news from the Board of Trustees meeting in April.

Trustees approved a record $511.9 million budget to “further support institutional goals and provide students an excellent educational experience,” the university said in a news release.

As TCU moves ahead with the second phase of its Vision in Action strategic plan — called The Academy of Tomorrow — the budget was crafted to support the overall university experience by focusing on three key areas: academic profile and reputation; size and balance; and campus environment.

“This budget allows the university to focus on its priorities of maintaining TCU’s competitive advantage, intensifying the university’s momentum and strengthening the student experience,” the release said. “The university will continue to move forward in a manner that maintains the quality of a world-class, values-centered university experience.”

In other business, Trustees:

• approved a $5.6 million renovation of Theodore Prentis Beasley Hall, which houses Religion department classrooms and offices. The project will include renovation of all academic space, as well as restrooms, a new elevator, a complete fire sprinkler system and will address accessibility issues. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2013 and will be completed over the summers of 2013 and 2014.
• approved plans for a $45 million renovation to Daniel-Meyer Coliseum with the project receiving a lead commitment of $10 million from Ed and Rae Schollmaier. The renovation project will begin once all the funds for the facility have been raised. The men’s and women’s basketball programs would receive new locker rooms and team meeting rooms as well as an increased sports medicine center and other amenities.
• approved the construction of a 160-bed Upper Division Residence Hall project in the Worth Hills campus next to the Sophomore Residence Hall project currently under construction. Construction is slated to begin in May 2013 and be finished by August 2014. When completed, the hall will be four stories tall and about 61,000 square feet. Rooms will be designed as suite-style units with a combination of two to four beds. The facility is scheduled for a minimum of LEED Silver certification.
• listened to a report from Chancellor Victor J. Boschini that total enrollment for the spring is at 9,160, an increase of 2.5 percent from last academic year. Undergraduate enrollment stands at 7,980, up 3.1 percent, while graduate enrollment is 1,180, down 1.7 percent. Boschini also reported a 96.9 percent retention of Fall 2012 first-time, full-time students.
• approved an additional parking lot on the east side of campus, which will add approximately 150 spaces along Lubbock Avenue. The new lot will provide access to Tandy, Smith, Tucker, Bass and Dan Rogers halls and compensate for the loss of parking spaces due to east campus construction. Work on the $1.3 million project will begin in July and is estimated to be complete in October 2013.
• approved a salary merit pool of 3 percent for faculty and staff, new faculty and staff positions and an increase in institutional financial aid, which includes a variety of scholarships, including the addition of new Chancellor’s Scholars and new Community Scholars.
  
• heard a report from the Student Government Association, which has funded a student memorial (left) in response to students’ requests to provide a place of reflection and solitude on campus. The landmark, which is nearing completion between the sidewalks of Jarvis Hall and Dave C. Reed Hall, features a single lily pad flute identical to ones on Frog Fountain. The memorial will not have running water through it to symbolize the quiet and stillness of campus without life.
• approved an earlier recommendation by the Executive Committee to confer honorary degrees on two individuals. Killed in action in Afghanistan, fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Benjamin Whetstone Schmidt will receive an Honorary Doctorate of the university posthumously. Additionally, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, a guest conductor in TCU’s School of Music, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Music. The honorary degrees will be awarded at a future commencement ceremony.
• passed a resolution honoring Dr. and Mrs. Boschini for their 10 years of service to TCU. Under Boschini’s tenure, the university has launched the Andrews Institute of Math & Science Education, the Schieffer School of Journalism, the TCU Energy Institute, the Institute of Child Development and the John V. Roach Honors College. TCU has been consistently been listed among the top 100 national universities and was recognized in 2010 by U.S. News & World Report and as one of 20 “Up and Coming” universities. Additionally, enrollment has risen 17.5 percent and the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate has improved to 90 percent, undergraduate financial aid has doubled and applications for admission have grown by 152.6 percent to more than 19,300.
• passed a resolution to honor Robert J. Wright, a devoted TCU Trustee from 1993-2013. A graduate of TCU, Wright had a significant influence on national medical care and public policy by serving as president of Medical Group Management Association, the American College of Medical Care Administrators, of which he is a Distinguished Fellow, and the Center for Research in Ambulatory Health Care Administration, as well as by serving on the board of the National Center for Policy Analysis. He is renowned for his generosity to TCU as a member of the Chancellor’s Council, a Founder of the Addison & Randolph Clark Society and a Gold member of the TCU Frog Club. He has also contributed to the Mary and Robert J. Wright Hall, Kellye Wright Samuelson Hall and the Mary Wright Admission Center and provided scholarship support for countless Wright scholars.
• passed a resolution in memoriam of Ruth Carter Stevenson, a devoted Trustee from 1974 to 1986 and Trustee Emeritus from 1986 until her death earlier this year. She served on the faculty relations, building and grounds and nominating committees. She is credited with creating the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth and distinguished herself as president of the Board of Directors of the Amon G. Carter Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the South.  Integral to Fort Worth history, she was the founding chairman of the Cultural District Advisory Committee, president of the Arts Council of Fort Worth, one of the original founders of the Streams and Valleys Committee, and the recipient of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 2007 International Award of Excellence in Conservation. Through the Amon G. Carter Foundation, she helped shape the TCU campus, particularly with the J.M. Moudy Visual Arts and Communications Building, and was recognized by the University with the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 1973 and by the TCU Alumni Association with the Royal Purple Award in the same year.
• heard a report from the Academic Affairs committee that Dr. Philip S. Hartman of the biology department and interm dean of the College of Science & Engineering has been appointed as dean. Hartman will begin his role on June 1, 2013.
• elected Elliott J. Hill ’86 and Jan Tucker Scully ’79 (MBA ’81) as new trustees to the Board.
• passed a resolution to move the following individuals to emeritus status at the university: Jean Giles-Sims (Sociology), Linda Guy (Art), Kathryne McDorman (History), William Powers (Communication Studies) and Larry Lauer (Emeritus Vice Chancellor for Government Affairs) who will serve in a Cabinet position.