REGENTS CONSIDER RAISING ROOM AND BOARD CHARGES

Pay more. It's a lesson Southeast Missouri State University students know all too well.

That lesson is expected to be driven home again under a university administration plan to raise room-and-board charges for the 1993-94 school year.

The university administration has proposed raising room-and-board charges and implementing a three-tier housing fee structure.

The Board of Regents is slated to consider the proposal at its meeting Friday. The meeting will be held at 2 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

The regents will also be asked to approve issuance of bonds for the Towers complex renovation project.

Southeast's plan to raise room-and-board charges doesn't sit well with sophomore Jeanne Crump, who lives in Towers complex. "I am going to live off campus next year," said Crump. "It's too expensive to live on campus. I don't think it is worth it for a dorm room."

Crump said students are generally required to live on campus for their first two years unless they are living at home. Other exceptions include those who are over 21 years of age, married, have dependents or are active in military service.

After two years of living in the dorms, Crump said, many students move off campus at least partly because it's economical.

That view was echoed last year by then-student-regent Steve Nenninger, who suggested that ever-rising fees would force more students to live off campus.

Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast, said whenever rates are raised there is "always a concern" that students are being priced out of an education.

But Wallhausen said Tuesday that even with such fee hikes Southeast's charges would remain competitive with other universities in the region.

The housing fee is $1,985 per person for the current academic year. The fee is based on double occupancy.

University officials are proposing to scrap the single housing fee in favor of a three-tier arrangement in which students would pay different amounts, depending on what residence hall they lived in.

Under the plan, the housing cost would be $2,070 a person for students living in Dearmont and Greek Housing for the 1993-94 year.

The housing charge for students living in Towers North, South and East residence halls would be $2,120. For students in Myers and Cheney halls, the cost would be $2,220, Wallhausen said.

The fourth Towers dormitory, Towers West, will be closed for the next school year to allow for major renovations to the structure, he said.

Wallhausen said students living in Dearmont and Greek Housing would pay the least because those structures are not air conditioned.

Cheney and Myers halls, which would have the highest charges, are considered the most attractive living areas on campus for students, Wallhausen said.

Myers Hall was renovated a few years ago and converted into "all-suite-type housing," he pointed out. Cheney Hall, with its relatively large rooms and convenient location, is also in great demand, said Wallhausen.

Board charges are also slated to increase. It's proposed that the board rate for the 15-meal-a-week plan, the plan most students living on campus use, be increased from $980 to $1,040.

This year combined room-and-board charges total $2,965 for students with the 15-meal plan.

Wallhausen said those combined fees are expected to increase from 4.9 to 9.9 percent for the coming school year, depending on which dormitory a student resides in.

Students in Dearmont and Greek Housing would pay a total of $3,110; in Towers, $3,160; and in Myers and Cheney, $3,260.

Those charges are based on students who have the 15-meal plan. For those students who live in Myers or Cheney and have the 20-meal plan, the total cost would be $3,420, Wallhausen said.

Room-and-board charges are expected to bring in about $6.6 million for the coming fiscal year, compared to $6.2 million this year, Wallhausen said.

The proposed increase in board charges reflects higher food costs and plans for replacement of cafeteria equipment, said Ken Dobbins, vice president for finance and administration.

Servicemaster operates the food service under a contract with the university. "They are allowed a certain annual increase to cover increased food costs," Wallhausen said.

There's also the cost of retiring the bond issue for renovation of two of the Towers residence halls.

The university is proposing to issue $17.5 million in revenue bonds, with $11 million of that going for the Towers project. The remainder is for the refinancing of the existing residence hall fund bond issue by paying off the old bonds and issuing new ones, Wallhausen said.

It's to the advantage of the university to take such action because interest rates are low, he explained. "This is a good time to borrow money."

In order to sell the bonds, the university has to have a sufficient source of revenue available to retire them. "It's a pretty good chunk of money," said Wallhausen.

Dobbins said it's estimated the refunding of the existing debt will save the university at least $150,000.

Room-and-board charges, he said, would have to be raised even if the university were not proceeding with the Towers renovation.

"We have increases in expenses, for example utilities and raises of personnel, and things of that nature," said Dobbins.