The Board of Regents updated its standards for the Regents’ exam and agreed to pay $3 million to renovate the University’s Fine Arts Building.

In its Tuesday and Wednesday meetings, the board updated its policy on exemptions from the Regents’ exam. The board changed its policy to exempt students from the Regents exam who score a 580 or above on the Georgia High School Graduation Test, according to John Millsaps, the board’s associate vice chancellor for media and publications.

He said the board will continue to exempt students who score a 510 on the SAT verbal section or a 560 on the SAT writing section.

The board also decided to start testing students earlier. Instead of requiring students to take the test after completing 45 hours, students will take the test before classes start or within the first two weeks of school.

Institutions will provide individualized help to students who fail the test multiple times, Millsaps said.

He said the changes will probably be implemented in the 2007-2008 school year, and will take effect “certainly by next fall.”

The board also agreed to fund the first phase of the renovation of the Fine Arts Building.

The first phase, which will cost about $3 million, includes renovating the lobby, adding bathrooms and updating the auditorium’s mechanical system, said Paul Cassilly, the director of design and construction for the University Architects.

Cassilly said the $3 million helps the architects to prepare for the second phase – the renovation of the theater.

“It’s a big project,” Cassilly said. “It hasn’t had a renovation in a long time.”

Construction will start following the 2008 school year.

In other business, the board discussed how to increase the number of Georgia students interested in math, science, technology and engineering.