On Thursday, the University Board of Trustees will decide on recommended purchases totaling more than $21 million, with $9 million specifically directed for the Urbana-Champaign campus.

The University’s Housing Division has recommended more than $3.3 million to purchase new furnishings for the Florida Avenue Residence and Illinois Street Residence Halls. The vendor, KLN Steel Products Co., would provide new beds, bookcases, pedestals, chests, desks and shelves.

Kirsten Ruby, Assistant Director of Housing and Marketing, said the furniture upgrades in FAR and ISR will be the first part of a plan to replace all the furniture in every student room across campus.

“Our student furniture has lasted us many years and needed to be replaced,” Ruby said.

Ruby said the new furniture would be installed during summer break and other break periods to not disturb those living in University housing. The installation of the first phase will take two years, to be completed in August 2008.

Also on the agenda for Board approval is $920,739 for Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services (CITES) to expand wireless Internet coverage throughout campus, which is part of CITES’s five-year network upgrade project.

“What we’re looking for is a solution for the density issue,” said CITES Director of Network Communications Mike Smeltzer. “How do you provide Internet access to 300 people in a lecture?”

Currently, an average wireless access point allows for 20 to 30 users to be connected at once, but the new hardware will allow more students and staff to connect at once.

The largest purchase to be approved by the Board is for the Chicago campus: They want to fund six licensed neonatal physicians and two certified neonatal nurse practitioners from Sheridan Children’s Healthcare Services. The total estimated cost would be more than $9 million dollars through three years and five months; however, it could change after 17 months because of cost-of-living adjustments and the number of physicians and nurses required.

The new staff would work at the Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine beginning on Feb. 1, 2006.

Also on the agenda as recommended purchases are a magnet system for the Carver Biotechnology Center to be part of a ultra-high performance mass spectrometer for a cost of $472,875 from Oxford Instruments America, Inc. Additionally, an estimated $130,300 to provide assistance to the Vice Chancellor for Research to implement a federal relations strategy for the campus from The Washington Advisory Group.

Also proposed is a large area lithography system for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from Anvik Corporation costing $1,030,000. An estimated $877,808 for services from Federal Companies to help relocate new employees and their equipment from Feb. 1, 2006, through Dec. 31, 2008, on all three University of Illinois campuses will also be proposed.