Potential future student housing announced at Purdue trustees meeting

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. − New potential student housing plans were announced at the April Purdue Board of Trustees meeting and, pending approval from Purdue Research Foundation, could be ready for opening in fall 2025.

Third and West, Hillenbrand South

Jay Wasson, vice president of Physical Facilities and Public Safety for Purdue, presented multiple upcoming facilities' plans on Friday, including information on a potential new student housing facility that would be created by Purdue Research Foundation, Third and West.

"The university is dedicated to increasing on-campus housing capacity and promoting student success in alignment with the transformative education initiatives," Wasson said. "...To further support the university and our strategic priorities, Purdue Research Foundation (will potentially construct) a new 401 unit housing development located at Third and McCormick Road to be opened by the fall of 2025.

"This facility will have the flexibility through different furniture configurations to support anywhere from 637 to 984 beds."

Wasson presented a Resolution of Appreciation to the board, showing gratitude to the foundation for considering the creation of the facility. The foundation will vote on May 3 on this construction project.

According to the board, this project would be the fastest in terms of completion and move-in dates for student housing.

The concept of student housing facility Hillenbrand South was also brought up at the meeting. While not as official as Third and West, this housing facility is being considered as well.

This project is one that has been previously looked at by the board and the planning and budgeting of this facility is being worked on. If all were to go to plan, according to the board, this residence hall would open in the fall of 2026.

Hillenbrand South would bring anywhere from 750-900 beds to campus. Upon its approval, Third and West would begin construction this summer.

Purdue President Mung Chiang shared some student housing statistics during the topic's discussion.

"(Once Third and West is approved) we will be at 35% increase of university residents' number of beds since 2013," Chiang said. "While our undergraduate enrollment number has gone up by about 30%."

Chilled Water Capacity

The first item presented by Wasson to the board regarded a resolution to "plan, finance, construct and award construction contracts for Chilled Water Capacity Enhancement Projects."

Wasson spoke about the importance of chilled water and what this plan entails.

"This project includes the construction of utility infrastructure...the safe and reliable production and distribution and chilled water throughout the West Lafayette campus in support of our ongoing strategic initiatives."

According to the resolution document, this project includes a new cooling tower and supporting equipment to be installed at the Wade Utility Plant and the construction of an around 1,600 gross-square-feet auxiliary controls building. Also included will be a new chilled water line installed from the Wade Utility Plant to central campus, "to allow for full chilled water capacity to reach buildings currently underserved during peak times."

The guaranteed maximum price for this project will be confirmed by September this year, but Wasson said on Friday that it may be around $65.5 million. Construction is expected to begin in February 2024 and end in May 2026.

"This project will increase chilled water capacity, allowing production and distribution of chilled water to keep pace with campus growth," the resolution stated. "Reliable production and distribution of chilled water is essential to providing stable temperature and humidity controls in campus facilities, which contribute to the longevity and health of buildings."

Birck Nanotechnology Center Clean Room Modernization

Wasson also presented plans to renovate approximately 13,000 gross-square-feet of clean room space in the Birck Nanotechnology Center on the West Lafayette campus.

Renovations include eight new air handling units to be installed, along with HEPA filters and fume hoods. Controls and utility systems will be upgraded and replaced, the resolution stated.

New specialty research equipment will be procured as part of this renovation.

"This project helps create the environment required for new semiconductor and quantum-focused research that helps attract industrial partnerships, like SkyWater Technology, to the university," the resolution stated.

The estimated cost of this project is $49 million. Construction is expected to begin in January 2024 and complete in August 2024.

Online Learning 2.0

The trustees endorsed the "vision statement" for Online Learning 2.0 on Friday.

The vision statement is as follows: "Online Learning at Purdue consists of two coordinated efforts: Purdue Global as a virtual campus and Purdue University Online as the online version of the West Lafayette campus. Differentiated in their offerings, Purdue Global and Purdue University Online share Purdue’s strategic focus and long-standing commitment to student success, learning technology innovation and growth with quality. Collectively, Purdue Global and Purdue University Online expand Purdue’s land-grant mission this century through a continuum of integrated and trusted online learning opportunities, with unparalleled excellence at scale."

A release about this announcement lists a few opportunities for expansion with these new efforts, including more programs with the U.S. Department of Defense; increased workforce development programs in areas like semiconductors, pharmaceutical manufacturing and cybersecurity, and more.

"Online Learning 2.0 will identify Purdue’s portfolio of best-in-class online offerings and clarify the role of Purdue Global within the Purdue system while informing the Board of Trustees of investments and commitments required to build a world-class online institution at scale," the release said.

Purdue Computes, 100 new staff to be hired

The final announcement on Chiang's report in the stated meeting related to Purdue Computes. Chiang stated that 100 new staff - 50 in the computing sector and 50 in the physical AI sector - will be hired as part of this initiative.

This initiative incorporates three pillars into it's main focuses: computing, physical AI and semiconductors.

The full scale of this new initiative can be read on Purdue's website, but here are the highlights, verbatim:

• "The Department of Computer Science, which became America’s first such department 60 years ago and today offers degrees including computer science, data science and artificial intelligence, will be strategically positioned to continue its rapid upward trajectory, with the target of achieving a top 10 national ranking before the end of this decade."

• "Over the next five years, across Computer Science, Computer Engineering and related departments, 50 new top-notch faculty hires are anticipated..."

• "A university-wide research Institute of Physical AI (IPAI) will be launched by early September. A faculty steering committee has been formed with broad participation by many colleges and departments across campus. An advisory board has been formed, with outstanding alumni from leadership positions in the AI industry participating."

• "Over the next five years, 50 new top-notch faculty will be recruited, with primary appointments in various academic departments and affiliation with IPAI, and over the same time span a total of 250 Presidential Doctoral Excellence Awards will be deployed to recruit the best PhD students in the field."

• "$100 million of semiconductor facilities is planned, with Phase 1 of $49 million approved Friday (April 14) by the Board of Trustees for capital project and equipment procurement to upgrade the 20-year-old national treasure Birck Nanotechnology Center."

• "The new facility and equipment will further position Purdue as a national leader in workforce through the Semiconductor Degrees Program, in research through CHIPS and Science Act-funded national institutes, and in partnership with both the industry supply chain and like-minded nations globally."

It was stated that sometime next week, further announcements on the Purdue Computes initiative will be announced.

A petition

Shortly after the Audit and Enterprise Risk Committee meeting concluded, members of the Living Wage Campaign and the Greater Lafayette Democratic Socialists of America asked to present the board with a petition for living wages.

"Before your next meeting, can I drop a petition off to you," Andy Lee, a representative from the Living Wage Campaign said. Michael Berghoff, chairman of the board, told the activists "Certainly."

Lee briefly presented a petition, saying, "This is just a bunch of grad worker (signatures)," Lee said. "You said a lot about professors and their research, and we also should be a thought. And we don't get paid a living wage. We're starving.

"We would just like you to consider paying us a living wage. So that is a petition with almost 900 signatures from people at Purdue University...So I would just like for you guys to consider paying us a living wage."

Berghoff told the demonstrators the board would take a look at it, and Lee thanked them.

On April 3, it was announced that the minimum fiscal-year stipend for graduate students will rise to $26,000. Currently, some graduate students have reported making as low as $18,000.

More: Raise in minimum for graduate student stipends also raises concerns at Purdue

In an article from the Purdue Exponent, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator was quoted as saying $32,375 yearly salary is the minimum living wage in West Lafayette.

Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mchristopherson@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretJC2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: More future housing, staff in the STEM field and more