University Star

University officials are preparing to propose housing rate increases at the Board of Regents meeting next week.

The Board of Regents, the highest decision-making body of the university system, typically does not turn down a proposal by university administration.

The raise will be 2.5 percent for rooms at residence halls, 3 percent for apartments and 2.5 percent for meal plans, according to the board book released by the Texas State University System office.

An additional $50 per semester laundry charge will be added to the residence hall rate and new dining dollars to the meal plans.

The Housing Rate Increase

The hike in rent will generate about $1 million.

Rosanne Proite, director of Housing and Residential Life, said the additional revenue will cover increased utility costs and staff salaries and benefits. She said the department is a self-supporting component of the university whose sole revenue source is rent from students.

“We have costs,” Proite said. “Our costs keep going up, so we have to raise rates. We try as hard as we can to keep things as low, in terms of an increase, as possible.”

University President Denise Trauth put next year’s faculty and staff merit increase on hold amid state budget uncertainty and the prospect of a 5 percent cut in funds.

Proite noted the department will not implement the salary increase if the president decides not to award the raise.

The housing department’s available balance amounted to $16 million, according to the board book as of November of last year.

The department plans to build a new office building and the north campus housing complex. Proite said the department will likely spend $8 to $9 million for the office building and $50 million for the north campus housing.

Both new construction projects are expected to start this fall. North campus housing will recover a large part of the on-campus capacity that will be lost when Falls and Sterry halls are demolished.

Michael Petty, assistant director of Facilities Planning, Design and Construction, said the staff anticipates the north campus housing project to be completed by fall 2012.

Proite said the new office building will accommodate about 150 full-time staff members who are located in seven different locations on and off campus.

The Laundry Fee
The $50 laundry fee will allow students an unrestricted use of laundry equipment. It costs $1 a load to wash clothes and another to dry. The new fee does not apply to apartments where laundry machines are already installed.

Mitchell Misek, national communications coordinator of the Residence Hall Association, said some students keep their clothes unwashed and go home to do free laundry.

“This will encourage students not only to do their laundry more often... but also get out, socialize with the people they are living with,” Misek said.

The Meal Plan Hike
The increase in meal plans will generate approximately $327,000. The university plans to use the additional revenue to cover increased costs for Chartwells, the university’s food supplier, as well as repair and maintenance.

New meal plans carry additional dining dollars. The university sells a $150 meal plan with $125 dining dollars for $1,033 for example.

John Root, director of Auxiliary Services, said the university has been adding restaurants and shops that accept dinning dollars. Root said unlike meal plans, students have to exhaust dinning dollars by the end of a semester.

“Typically, our students come pretty close to exhausting those,” Root said.