REGENTS OK FEE INCREASES

Southeast Missouri State University students will be paying more to live on campus next school year.

The Board of Regents Friday unanimously approved a hike in room and board fees, coupled with a new three-tier rate structure for the 1993-94 academic year.

Ken Dobbins, vice president for finance and administration, said the increased charges are needed to offset rising costs in residence hall operations, including the retirement of a bond issue for renovation of two of the Towers dormitories.

The board also approved a $7.4 million budget for the 1993-94 fiscal year for the office of residence life, which operates the campus residence halls.

The budget projects room and board revenue of $6.65 million, compared to $6.2 million budgeted for the current fiscal year.

The regents also entered into a contract with Sverdrup Corp. of St. Louis to manage the Towers renovation project and agreed to a resolution authorizing the sale of revenue bonds to pay for the construction work.

Under the management contract, the regents and Sverdrup agreed to a guaranteed price of $11,069,000 for major renovations to Towers West and Towers North.

Proceeds from the sale of $17.5 million in bonds will be used to finance the renovation work, provide some residence hall furnishings, remove encapsulated asbestos, and refinance the university's outstanding housing system revenue bonds.

Ken Dobbins, vice president for finance and administration, said recent reductions in interest rates will mean a savings of $750,000 over the life of the bonds. As of Friday's regents meeting, the bonds had already been sold.

Carl Ben Bidewell of Poplar Bluff, president of the Board of Regents, abstained on all votes Friday pertaining to the bond issue.

Bidewell said after the meeting that he abstained because he had at one time worked for the bond underwriters, Stifel-Nicolaus.

Next academic year, double occupancy room rates will be $2,070 for students living in Dearmont and Greek housing; $2,120 for students in Towers North, South and East; and $2,220 for students housed in Myers and Cheney halls, university officials said.

This year, there was a single rate for all campus dorm rooms of $1,985 per person, based on double occupancy.

For the 1994 fiscal year, a surcharge of $800 will be levied for students living in single-occupancy rooms, up from $600 this academic year, officials said.

The standard 15-meal board rate will be $1,040 next year, up from $980 this school year.

For the coming school year, students in Dearmont and Greek housing will pay combined room and board charges of $3,110; in Towers, $3,160; and Myers and Cheney, $3,260, based on a 15-meal plan.

SueAnn Strom, vice president for student affairs, said such rates are competitive with those at other regional institutions.

"For example, current room and board charges for comparable air-conditioned dormitory rooms at the University of Missouri-Columbia total $3,353. At the University of Missouri-Rolla, the cost is $3,485; and at Southwest and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, $3,024.

The national average this year among 370 public, regional institutions is $3,371.

"Our rates are comparable with sister institutions," said Strom.

She said it's important for Southeast not to be on the high or the low end of charges. "I think there is a perception that cost and quality are related."

In addition to the fee increase, Strom said that Towers West will be unoccupied during the 1993-94 year while renovation on the residence hall is done. During that period, students will be accommodated in other residence halls, and the number of single-occupancy rooms will drop.

At the start of the 1992-93 year, 230 single-occupancy rooms were available. The university is projecting that 80 single-occupancy rooms will be available at the start of the next academic year due to the renovation project, Strom said.

Scott Giles, a student and non-voting member of the regents, said the fee hike is "a small increase."

"I have heard a lot of comments from students that they are happy to see a differential structure," he said.

Students in non-air-conditioned dorms don't feel they should have to pay the same rate as those in air-conditioned facilities, he explained.

Work on renovation of Towers West is scheduled to begin in May at the close of the academic year. It will remain closed through next spring.

When that high-rise residence hall goes back on line, Towers North will be shut down for the same renovation work. All of the renovation work is expected to be completed by May 1995.

University officials are projecting reduced staffing costs while the Towers dorms are shut down.