HERSHEY -- The University Board of Trustees approved the final plans and authorized the University to obtain bids for the Mateer Building, which will house the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management.

The building will be connected to the Keller Conference Center and extend into the center's parking lot, said James Wagner, assistant vice president for business and operations.

The building will not affect parking because the University's planned research park will include a new conference center, Wagner said. Parking will also be provided in the new second-floor parking terrace outdside the Keller building and a proposed parking facility behind Eisenhower Auditorium, Wagner said.

Keller will then be used for classrooms and other academic services, Wagner said.

The $6 million project should be completed in about two years, he said.

Wagner said the current financial crisis should not delay the construction of Mateer Building because University President Joab Thomas has promised that the academic programs will be left alone as much as possible.

The hotel, restaurant and institutional management program is located in the Henderson and Health and Human Development buildings, Wagner said. Students in the program do not have adequate room or appropriate facilities, he said.

Student trustee E.J. Shaffer said he toured the program's facilities and ate in its kitchen. He said the new building is necessary because students need a new facility.

"It's an area where Penn State can excel," Shaffer said.

Tiffany Fitzpatrick (sophomore-HRIM) said the nutrition laboratory the students use now is outdated.

"We deserve a lot more than we get," Fitzpatrick said.