Board of Trustees meets in new Student Services Building on UAH campus

The Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama met April 7-8, 2016, in the new Student Services Building on the UAH campus.

Michael Mercier | UAH

Last week, The Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama convened in the brand-new Student Services Building at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) for its annual UAH Institutional Meeting.

While on campus, the board granted final approval of a new graduate degree, the Master of Arts in professional communications. The program will prepare students to work in communications-intensive jobs, including social media management, public relations, technical writing, and advertising among others.

In addition, they approved the Athletics Department’s request to rename the men’s basketball dressing room in honor of Walter Eugene “Gene” Lusk, a long-time supporter of UAH basketball who passed away two years ago this month. The dressing room will be renovated thanks to the generous support of donors.

The board also gave approval for an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters to be presented to U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who will serve as the commencement speaker at UAH’s graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 1.

The meeting concluded with the passing of a resolution that authorizes UAH to select an architect agreement for its proposed Innovation to Invention Center. The $7 million, 45,000-square-foot business incubator will provide office and lab space to support inventors and entrepreneurs in the innovation process, build a virtual network of relationships to grow the innovation capacity within the region, and help reduce dependence on federal funding through economic diversification.

The Board's next meeting will take place in June in Tuscaloosa.

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