The UM System Board of Curators met last Thursday and Friday at MU to discuss the future of the UM System.
**Presidential Search Update**
The curators [approved the composition](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/2/5/curators-discuss-presidential-search-committee-and/) of the presidential search committee, which will include board members, two students (one of which will be the board’s student representative), two faculty members and two staff members. The board plans to select the committee and choose the search firm by the end of February.
**Middleton Addresses Board**
Interim UM System President Mike Middleton [spoke to the curators](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/2/7/um-system-president-talks-progress-asks-patience-a/) about the future of the UM System and acknowledged that improving relations with state legislators will take time. “Patience is a virtue in situations like this,” he said. “Just as these problems didn’t evolve overnight, your solutions will not come quickly.”
**Student Diversity Panel**
Four MU students [discussed diversity and improving campus climate](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2016/2/5/student-panel-speaks-about-diversity-board-curator/) in a panel with the board. They spoke about their own experiences with discrimination on campus, the proposed diversity course requirement and communication between students and the board.
“Perhaps it’s time to change your job description and go above and beyond what you’ve always done,” doctoral student Timothy Love said. “If there are still no policies in place after all these months, then we have the right to be angry.”
**Room and Board Updates**
The curators approved a $380 increase for MU’s room and board rates for the 2016-17 school year. The increase also includes a proposed laundry fee from the Department of Residential Life, which would replace charges for individual loads of laundry.
**Campus Renovations**
The curators also approved renovations to Stewart and McKee halls that will create more STEM learning spaces for students, as well as a new “applied learning center” for the Trulaske College of Business.
