Greek students at Southeast Missouri State University will not get a proposed Greek village, which would have cost close to $30 million, according to a post on the blog of the Office of Residence Life.

Instead, expansions and renovations may be made to existing Greek housing, located near Towers complex, should a majority of Greek chapters at Southeast and then the Board of Regents approve them.

Bruce Skinner, the assistant vice president for Student Success and director of the Office of Residence Life, said the decision not to create Greek Village was due to concerns about how the project would be funded.

The Greek Village idea was a proposal that involved moving sorority and fraternity on-campus housing from its location on Greek Hill to another part of campus.

Skinner said students living in Greek housing could have seen as much as a 40 percent increase to their room and board fees.

Another option was for the students to fundraise $12-13 million before construction began to help with costs.

"With 1,000 students there was no way we could expect them to raise that much money," Skinner said.

Students were worried that leaving their current location could hurt recruitment, according to a post by Skinner on the Residence Life blog.

Also, Skinner said the students, especially members of sororities, lost interest due to the cost involved.

The university now is proposing renovating the existing housing, which would involve adding sidewalks and expanding the lounges of each of the existing buildings.

However, Skinner has not yet met with the students to discuss whether they support the new renovation plan.

"The idea developed at the end of the process, which was why no one was informed," Skinner said.

He will meet with Greek students to present the new plan.

"It's not moving forward unless Greek students tell the university and say 'Yes, we understand room rates will go up,'" Skinner said. "If they say 'No,' then it will be dropped and there won't be any work."

Skinner said if the Greek students agree, the university would partner with a company, construct a budget and plan, and take them to the Board of Regents.

"The board would decide ultimately," Skinner said.

In addition to potential housing renovations, the university is seeking a director of Greek Life, a newly created position at Southeast who will report to Skinner.

Skinner now is the vice president of Student Success and also retains the title of the director of the Office of Residence Life.

"The institution thought we needed to give more attention to Greek students," Skinner said.

One of the job responsibilities of the new director of Greek Life will be to oversee Greek activities, Greek Week and the new Greek accreditation process, which is beginning this year.

"He or she will enforce and implement that to ensure the Greeks are doing what they are supposed to be doing," Skinner said.

Skinner said he has been receiving resumes and people could still apply for the director of Greek Life position.

He said the new director will be selected by late spring or early summer.