An agreement between the Board of Regents, Memorial Union Board, ISU students and the university will transfer control of the Memorial Union to Iowa State on Jan. 1, 2003.

“Under the new agreement, the [former student fees] are still in place and used as a part of the renovation cost,” said Government of the Student Body President T.J. Schneider.

“The university has also agreed to work to make the [Memorial] Union a priority by helping find additional funding.”

Original plans were to use student fees and a Board of Regents bond for a $10 million MU renovation, said Andy Tofilon, president of the board of directors of the Memorial Union Corporation.

“We found out that under our current government structure, we cannot use the Board of Regents’ bonding authority to bond for the renovation,” Tofilon said. “Therefore, we could not secure a bond through the Regents for the 20 year period needed.”

Schneider said students could leave the MU “as is,” but service and accessibility problems make that an unacceptable option.

Tofilon said establishing a management company for the MU and transferring all assets to the university was another option.

“We didn’t like that idea at all,” Schneider said. “To some extent, the corporation exists only because the union and land don’t belong to the university.”

More friction would be created if an independent entity ran the building, he said.

Schneider said the final option was to allow the university to take over the union and the land.

“We didn’t really like that idea because we feel students should have input and influence on what happens in the union,” he said.

The developed solution was a combination of the second and third options.

“What we approached the administration with was an agreement that was a combination that would allow the university to take over the land, the building and management, and the students would control policy issues,” Schneider said.

The new structure will allow the university to bond for more money. The renovation may cost $30 million instead of the original $10 million, Tofilon said.

“We wanted to accomplish not a hodgepodge, but an all-encompassing renovation that would bring the union into the 21st century,” he said. “With this new renovation, we want to have artifacts of Iowa State University in the halls.”

Current students will not see the finished product, but should notice the effects of the transfer right away, Tofilon said.

Each phase of the renovation will be bonded separately, he said.

The university will also take on about $4.7 million in MU debt, Tofilon said.

“By going over to the university, the union will be a lot more student-centered,” he said. “Students will notice right away that the building is being run by students; that students’ needs are being addressed more.”

Thomas Hill, vice president for Student Affairs, said most people won’t notice a difference in the organizational structure of the union because many people aren’t aware of how it was originally organized.

“What I hope students especially will see is a more seamless interface with the rest of student affairs, which will put us in a position to better serve students,” Hill said. The union is very critical to campus life, he said.

John McCarroll, director of University Relations, said the agreement must go through the Board of Regents to become official.

Tofilon said he expects groundbreaking for the renovation within a year.

At 3 p.m. Wednesday, a meeting will be held with the MU’s architects to discuss the student office space. The meeting will be in room 201 of the MU and all students are encouraged to attend.