Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1958 [PAGE 274]

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1957]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

271

QUARTERLY REPORT O F T H E COMPTROLLER (17) The Comptroller presents his quarterly report to the Board as of December 31, 1956.

This report was received for record and a copy has been filed with the Secretary of the Board.

LEASE O F LAND FOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH (18) The Electrical Engineering Department has been conducting research in radio direction finding for over ten years under a contract with the U. S. Navy. A small temporary R D F installation was set up in 1950 at the University Airport. This installation will not be available for future use because (a) it is no longer adequate for the general expansion and additional requirements of the program, a part of which involves classified research, and the installation is near the end of its physical usefulness, and (b) the Institute of Aviation plans to install radio-navigation equipment to enable planes to use the Airport during poor visibility and to expand the runway system. The plans of the Institute and the needs of the R D F research group are incompatible because of limited space available, the impairment of accuracy of the R D F measurements by the installation of navigation and landing facilities, and the hazard to flying of an enlarged RDF installation in its present location. With the approval of the Navy Department, preliminary negotiations have been conducted with the Twin City Development Co., Champaign, Illinois, hereinafter referred to as the Company, for the leasing of land on which to place a new R D F installation. It will be necessary to have a third party buy the land and in turn lease it to the University with an option to purchase. A thorough search of areas geographically and topographically acceptable and negotiations with land owners has resulted in an offer to sell to the Company suitable tracts of land. A total of eighty and one-half acres is required. The land will be used for a research program closely associated with the one for which another leasing of land was previously authorized by the Board on June 27, 1956. The two projects complement each other, and it is desirable that the installations be close together. The Company is now able to purchase the desired sites, totaling eighty and onehalf acres, for $63,395, or an average of $788 an acre. It will lease the land to the University for $50 an acre per year. Liquidated damages of $27,570 must be paid. All costs will be reimbursed by the Navy. The Dean of the College of Engineering and the Vice-President and Comptroller recommend this land acquisition after formal approval of all details by the Navy. I concur and recommend that the Comptroller and the Secretary of the Board be authorized to execute all necessary documents.

On motion of Mr. Johnston, this land acquisition program was authorized, subject to final approval by the Executive Committee.

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FOREIGN DISPLACED STUDENTS (19) In April, 1949, the Board of Trustees established ten scholarships, covering tuition, laboratory, library, and supply fee, and the Illini Union Building service charge, for awards to displaced persons who desire to enroll as students at the University of Illinois and who meet the requirements for admission. This was in response to appeals from a number of organizations to the University for aid to foreign students and displaced persons. The Campus Chest, an undergraduate organization which raises funds for contributions to charitable, health, and other welfare causes, provided other financial assistance. These scholarships were for four years and have now expired. The Committee on Special Undergraduate Scholarships has recommended that fifteen such tuition and fee scholarships be established for displaced persons or refugees who desire to enroll in the University and who meet admission requirements. Various community organizations and student organizations will sponsor such students by providing board, lodging, and funds for incidental expenses. This request is, in effect, for renewal and extension of the number of the