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November 3, 2009

OU Regents to consider $4.7 million renovation of Italian monastery

By Julianna Parker Jones

The University of Oklahoma could add a new building to its list of academic brick and mortar. Along with Dale Hall and Sarkeys Energy Center, students would expand their view of the world in a renovated monastery.

Pending OU Board of Regents approval Wednesday, the university will move forward with the lease and renovation of the Monastero delle Clarisse di Santa Chiara in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy.

The new building is meant to institute an established presence in Arezzo to give OU students studying there increased access to OU resources, according to the board's agenda.

That advantage comes with a price tag -- about $4.7 million to renovate the building. Funding for the project would come from discretionary affinity card and Coca Cola pouring rights contract reserves, the agenda said.

The renovation would take about three years and open for use in spring 2013, according to the agenda.

The building will be used to help students with details of daily living such as arranging transportation, living accommodations, meals and other logistical and student life changes, the agenda said.

The monastery is part of a new model of study abroad OU is developing to encourage more students to go abroad during the school year.

OU has had an exchange agreement with the University of Siena in Arezzo since 2006 that allows students with an intermediate level of Italian to take courses during the academic year, the Transcript reported in January. During the spring 2009 semester, OU students were for the first time allowed to take a full course load in Arezzo in English.

Kirk Duclaux, OU's director of Italian Programs in Italy, said at that time that OU's model in Italy was meant to provide a safer, less-independent study abroad experience.

The item on the board's agenda this week reflects that idea.

"The resulting security afforded should enhance the peace of mind to the families of students living and studying abroad, encouraging an increase in participation in the program," the agenda said.

The Board of Regents will meet to consider the proposed lease and renovation as well as other OU-related items 2 p.m. Wednesday in the CETES Conference Center at Cameron University in Lawton.

The regents also will hear a report on the anticipated annual activity for an on-site supplier consignment auto parts inventory, to be located in OU's Fleet Services building.

Through the contract, OU's Fleet Services will receive stock for timely vehicle repairs without assuming the associated inventory investment, according to the agenda. The contract will enable Fleet Services to reduce inventory and avoid loss associated with obsolete parts, the agenda said.

The next regular meeting of the OU Board of Regents is slated for Dec. 1 and 2 in Norman.

Julianna Parker Jones 366-3541 jparker@normantranscript.com

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