By Dylan Pichnarcik News Editor The Board of Trustees passed a motion approving the construction of a barn at the Warren Conference Center during their Nov. 13 meeting. The project is a partnership between Framingham State and the town of Ashland and will cost $3.65 million, according to Robert Totino, vice president of administration, finance, and technology. The Warren Conference Center is located in Ashland and was acquired by the Massachusetts State College Building Authority on behalf of FSU in 2015. Totino said the construction of the barn is expected to begin in the spring of 2025 and will be completed between the fall and winter of 2025. Previously, there was a barn on the Warren Center property that was razed a few years ago. Totino said the site of the barn “was given back to the town of Ashland.” He added, “We're working collaboratively with the town of Ashland to rebuild the barn site. What we can see happening is there could be an on-site event meeting space.” Totino said the barn will also serve as a recreational facility with room for an ice-skating rink available to students as well as restrooms. There will also be a partnership with the Student Transportation Center (STC) to shuttle students to and from the Warren Center while the ice rink is open, according to Totino. He said STC will be “making student trips to do ice-skating venues for maybe our resident students in our residence halls, things like that, and also for academic programming.” Totino said the ice rink is expected to be operational “by mid December - about a month from now, and last until roughly March, end of February." Framingham State will contribute $2.15 million to the project, while the town of Ashland will provide the additional $1.5 million. Money to fund the project is “largely made up of state appropriations. We have a $1.5 million earmark in the state-approved budget from August of ’24 for fiscal ’25,” said Totino. The additional funding required to complete the project is approximately $600,000 and will come from “prior funding from previous years,” Totino said. In response to Totino’s report, Student Trustee Jeremy McDonald asked if there were plans to publicize the barn and ice rink to students. Totino said, “There will be plenty of publications with the student government, resident assistants, the resident directors, and of course, our commuter students.” The motion to approve the project passed unanimously. During her report, President Nancy Niemi announced the New England Board of Higher Education (NECHE) approved FSU for reaccreditation for the next 10 years. Niemi said in the future, NECHE has asked FSU to submit “a progress report in August 2026, which is a new action that they're taking with most institutions. … At that time, they want to hear about how we've systematized our multi-year planning and our strategic planning, because at the time they came, we had not finished that work yet.” She added, “They wanted to hear how we finished our strategic plan, and the evidence of how we are addressing enrollment and financial goals. … They also expect to hear from us about how we're evaluating our academic program portfolio.” Niemi added she presented the University’s strategic plan to the Board of Higher Education in October. She said the Board of Higher Education approved the strategic plan unanimously. During his report, Jeffrey Coleman, vice president of diversity, inclusion and community engagement (DICE), highlighted “our faculty and staff professional development initiatives. With these particular initiatives, our focus has been on helping faculty and staff develop more of a deeper understanding and practical application around diversity equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles, and also how to create support for classroom environments.” He added, “Each of those professional development initiatives focuses on improving student engagement and retention, particularly amongst our underrepresented groups and identities.” Coleman said he is also focused on “collaboration on many of our DEI efforts with faculty and staff.” Coleman said, “We are moving toward innovating for student success, and adapting and adopting programs, practices, and pedagogies to enhance teaching and learning that meet the evolving needs of our student population, our adult students, employers and the needs of ever-changing diverse society.” During his report, Eric Gustafson, vice president of development and alumni relations, announced Kristen Daly, class of ’92, will serve as the new alumni trustee. Gustafson said the Alumni Association and the FSU Foundation Board, voted for Daly’s appointment to the Board of Trustees. During his report, Student Trustee McDonald discussed the Administrators Forum held on Oct. 28 by the Student Government Association (SGA). [ Editor’s Note: See “Administrators listen to student concerns at forum” in the Nov. 8 issue of The Gatepost. ] McDonald said, “The topics included dining, the atmosphere, the website, event planning and campus timing, athletics, and the academic calendar. I was very pleased by the administration there and by the answers that we received.” McDonald discussed the Board of Trustees’ forum, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 26 in the Henry Whittemore Library. The event will be an opportunity for students to meet with the trustees. He said, “I want to stress the importance of this kind of event. It's important for the students to be able to know who the board is.” McDonald also discussed recent SGA initiatives. McDonald said STC will now transport students to the Loring Arena during men’s and women’s home hockey games. McDonald said, “We’d like to expand this to Bowditch Field for our football team, which is our other off-campus location.” McDonald discussed the women's ice hockey team, which played their first game on Oct. 31. “This event was the first time students were able to utilize the STC as transport to the Loring Arena.” During Niemi’s report, Aline Davis, professor of biology, introduced the student-in-the-spotlight, senior Rachel Sharon. Sharon, 33, “has continuously held between one and three part-time jobs while completing her degree,” Davis said. She added, “They've all been related to her major. She has worked at Animal Care at Mass Audubon. She has worked at Weston Nurseries and continues to do so, and she has worked at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation.” Sharon has served as the coordinator of the Framingham State community garden during the summer of 2023 and as President of the Wildlife Club during the 2023-24 school year. Sharon is a transfer student from Mount Wachusett Community College.