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Despite continued vocal opposition from the student government body, Trent University has taken another step closer to building the proposed $19.5 million DNA research facility.

The Trent Central Student Association (TCSA) asked the board of governors Friday to delay approval of the project, to allow for more public discussion.

"The students' primary concerns with the DNA cluster project have to do with the questionable governance processes which have brought it about," says Shantel Ivits, TCSA vice-president of university affairs.

"Millions of public dollars were secured from various levels of government without anything as basic and necessary as a business plan."

University administrators have admitted they are under a tight schedule to have the research facility open by December 2005 before they lose almost $8 million in federal and provincial government dollars.

As a result of these deadlines attached to the funding, the university has been "too rushed to reasonably investigate its impacts on Trent University from financial, environmental and academic standpoints," Ms Ivits adds.

The board of governors responded in a media release by stating the cluster project won't have a negative impact on the university's operating budget and provided the business plan outlining the construction of the new facility.

The building project received approval in principle from the board the same day behind closed doors. The university is proceeding to finalize negotiations with the City of Peterborough and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).

"We need to formalize the agreement with the City and discuss how the money is going to flow," says Susan Clark, Trent's vice-president academic.

Leasing arrangements with the MNR also need to be ironed out, notes Ms Clark, before construction of two building blocks consisting of state-of-the-art laboratories and office space for faculty, students and government researchers can begin.

"We want it to get it going as quickly as possible," she says.

Ms Clark adds, she wants to get together with the TCSA this week to discuss details of the plan, which include the initial stages of the project primarily benefiting the two public institutions -- Trent and the MNR.

"I'm hoping there will a sense of comfort in that," she says.