The University’s board of trustees will approve next year’s tuition and fee increases at its regular meeting Thursday in Chicago.

“If the recommendation is for a tuition increase, I expect it would be a modest rate given the Board’s policy to try to keep tuition increases no greater than the cost of living index,” said University spokesman Tom Hardy in an email.

While the tuition recommendation of the academic and student affairs committee, which is scheduled to meet Wednesday at 8:30 a.m., have not been made public, recommendations for cost recovery programs have been released. Cost recovery programs are academic programs covered entirely by tuition and fees.

The executive MBA program is the only program that will not face an increase. The master of science programs in finance may increase by $1,900, in technology management by $1,100, in policy economics by $1,120 and in accountancy by $2,500.

Earlier this month, the board’s audit, budget, finance and facilities committee reviewed recommendations for student and housing fees. If approved at Thursday’s meeting, mandatory student fees may increase by 1 percent, or $30, which will bring the total annual bill to $2,916. Students could also see a $291 increase in room and board fees, bringing the total to $9,979 — a 3 percent increase from the current academic year.

The board will also vote to approve the project recommendations for a wounded veterans’ center on the Urbana campus, the architectural consultant recommendations for the reconstruction of the Natural History Building and the naming of a new residence hall in the Ikenberry Commons after the first African-American woman to graduate from the University.

The board will also meet Wednesday at 10 a.m. for its annual retreat in Chicago. Hardy said the retreat will focus around the topic of technology-enhanced teaching and learning, an “increasingly important aspect of higher education.” National experts in the field and faculty members from each campus, including Doug Beck, physics professor on the Urbana campus, who will lead a panel discussion on the topic.

Retreat participants, including board members, University officers, members of the University Senates Conference and deans and administrators from each campus, will then break into discussion groups. The board will reconvene afterward to review each group’s report.

The retreat will be webcast live at www.uis.edu/technology/uislive.html.

Lauren can be reached at [email protected].