The Board of Trustees approved a 5 percent increase in residence and dining hall rates for the 1997-98 academic year during its April meeting. The key elements driving the increase are a bargaining unit employee wage increase, a 5 percent utility increase and the university's unusually high health insurance rate increase, said Vice President for Administration Gary North.
Trustees were expected to set student tuition and employee wage compensation rates at their June 25-27 meetings in Athens, after "Ohio University Today" went to print. Trustees and the university administration were awaiting word from a House-Senate conference committee and the final outcome of the biennial state budget for higher education. The committee wasn't expected to resolve its differences until late June. The new two-year state budget was to take effect July 1.
The residence and dining hall auxiliary budget is self-supporting, receiving no tuition or state subsidies. Part of the increase approved in April will support a $4 million capital improvement program to address some housing issues identified in a 1994 consultant's report.
North said the university intends to address "major system issues" such as aging roofs, exterior brick work, electrical service, heating, ventilating and air conditioning, as well as aesthetic needs.
The 1994 report, prepared by the Georgia-based ISES Corp., identified immediate and long-range university housing renovation needs totaling an estimated $108 million. University officials said they plan to seek a consultant's guidance on long-term housing configurations and funding of renovations.
"Finding funding for housing renovations is a common problem at institutions across the country," North said.
North noted that with the room and board rate increase, Ohio University's rates remain competitive with the local private housing sector and with other Ohio public school residential programs. Under the rate increase, the cost for a standard double room increases from $733 to $770 per quarter, and the 14-meal flexible plan increases from $710 to $746 per quarter.
In April, trustees also approved plans and specifications for the first phase of development of an athletic mall on the Athens campus (see story on this page), and approved construction documents for the $5.8 million Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium rehabilitation project. State appropriations totaling $5.2 million support the bulk of the Alumni Memorial Auditorium project, which was expected to begin in late June.
Trustees also received a report that the education administration
and higher education doctoral programs were restructured and received
high marks from the Ohio Board of Regents, which resulted in the
restoration of state support for both programs.
