Trustees to increase room, board by 3%
Central Michigan University students who live on campus next fall may have to lay down some extra cash under a proposed rate hike for room and board.
The Board of Trustees will review a proposal that calls for a 3 percent increase in living costs in campus-wide residence halls at its 9:30 a.m. Thursday meeting in the President Conference Room in the Bovee University Center. On-campus apartment rates would increase by 2 percent.
The proposal estimates a change in costs for standard room and board from $7,668 this academic year to $7,896 in 2009-10.
Projections are based on a beginning occupancy of 5,900 students in residence halls next fall, as compared to 6,077 in the fall of 2008 and 6,011 in 2007.
Steve Smith, director of media relations, said the university is planning for fewer residents next year.
"The reason for that is its the decline in the number of students coming out of high school and thus the number of students who enroll in college," he said.
John Fisher, associate vice president of residence and auxiliary services said challenging economic times are prompting more students to community colleges for their freshman year, as opposed to four-year institutions.
The increased rate proposal, created by Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services David Burdette, calls for the cost increases to balance the flow of money leaving CMU.
Fisher said although certain practices such as going "trayless" in residence dining halls last year helped save money, it was not enough to offset increasing food costs. Still, he said, the room and board hike next year will be less than in previous years.
"We're pleased it's only going to be 3 percent because the last couple of years it's been 6 percent," Fisher said. "We look at every cost factor every year to see if there's anywhere we could save additional money."
According to documents provided to the board, CMU currently has the fourth-highest standard room and board rates among a group of 13 in-state public colleges and universities. The group includes the University of Michigan, which is ranked most costly, and Michigan State University, among others. When compared with estimations of next year's room and board costs, CMU's standard living costs will be fifth-highest in the state.
Other topics
Also on the board's agenda are increases in tuition costs for ProfEd classes. According to a proposal by Provost Julia Wallace, the standard undergraduate ProfEd course would increase to $338 per credit hour in 2009-10 from $325 this year.
ProfEd graduate tuition rates would increase by $21, to $446 per credit hour from $425. Undergraduate military student tuition rates will remain the same, although those for graduate students will jump to $265 per credit hour from $250.
Approval of next year's capital budget also will be in the hands of trustees at Thursday's meeting. Burdette has proposed $13,042,240 in capital expenditures, which include both restricted and deferred maintenance projects, among others. The total projected capital budget through 2013 is $72,205,000, according to the proposal.
To comply with mandates by the Federal Trade Commission, which will take effect May 1, CMU also may adopt an "Identity Theft Red Flags Policy." The FTC will require that all entities that maintain "covered accounts," such as those that contain credit card information and medical information, have some policy for guarding against identity theft.
Registrar Karen Hutslar said CMU already uses extensive methods to protect information and abide by the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Still, she said, improvements are a plus.
"The whole university is committed to making sure student information is kept confidential," Hutslar said.
Burdette's proposal to the Board would identify such "red flags" as whether identification documents on an account have been altered or forged, or whether a request has been made for information by a non-CMU e-mail account. Once identified, the policy would take steps to increase security until the flag has been lifted.
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