Indiana State University says it no longer needs 116 parcels of land located primarily east and north of campus and it wants to dispose of those properties.

The board of trustees on Friday passed a resolution authorizing the university to move forward and take the steps necessary.

The parcels are located in general in an area north of Sycamore Street, south of Third Avenue, west of 13th Street and east of Ninth Street. Many of the properties are on north 11th, 12th and 13th streets.

“The parcels are located in an area that is no longer in the strategic interest of the university. Disposal of these properties would eliminate the cost of maintenance and upkeep,” according to information provided to trustees.

A copy of the resolution must be certified to Indiana’s governor and the value of the real estate must be determined by two appraisers prior to sale or conveyance of the property.

After ISU receives the appraisals, the university treasurer is authorized “to negotiate with a purchaser or purchasers, or recipient or recipients … for all or any portion of the real estate.”

Diann McKee, senior vice president for finance and administration, said the university acquired many of the properties in the mid-2000s, in part to clean up blight near campus but also, based on the master plan at the time, to potentially use them for university activities or buildings.

That focus began to change with subsequent facility master plans.

Now, the university has determined “there really is no near term or long term plans for those properties,” McKee said after the meeting. ISU pays to have the properties mowed and it must pay property taxes on many of them because they are vacant and unused.

State law changed a few years ago, she said, and if the university is not actively using a vacant property, it is considered taxable.

The next steps are to have the property appraised and then it will be marketed.

Before property is transferred, it would need to come back to trustees for their approval, she said. McKee was not aware of any specific plans as far as future disposition of the properties or interested parties.

No increase in housing, slight increase in meal plans

In other matters, students will see no increase in housing rates for the 2025-26 academic year. A traditional room type, used by most freshmen, would be $7,563 for 2025-26, the same as 2024-25.

Students will see a slight increase in meal plan costs.

A standard meal plan, which includes 12 meals per week and $170 in Commons Cash per semester — the most popular with students — will increase from $4,231 for the 2025-26 academic year to $4,353, up nearly 2.9%.

The increases “allows for normal increases in food and labor costs,” according to ISU.

The dining rate increases, depending on meal plan option, range from $74 to $138 annually, McKee told trustees.

Students living in on-campus residence halls are required to purchase a resident meal plan.

Center named for Jan McCarthy

Trustees also approved naming the Early Childhood Education Center the Jan McCarthy Early Childhood Education Center.

The naming is in recognition of faculty emeritus McCarthy’s long-time giving and service to ISU.

She served as a professor of education from 1962 to 1992 and is considered “an icon” within higher education circles as the founder of early childhood education nationally, according to ISU. She established the program at Indiana State University.

According to the university, McCarthy’s lifetime giving and future commitments to ISU exceed $1.5 million.

The university also modified its fall 2025 academic calendar:

• Fall break is moved from Oct. 10 to Oct. 17.

• Homecoming is Oct. 11. And, trustees approved a new bachelor of science degree in forensics.