Cal U increases room, board
CALIFORNIA – California University of Pennsylvania’s Council of Trustees unanimously approved raising room, board and student center fees by approximately 3 percent for the 2002-03 academic year. Alex Lese, one of two newly appointed trustees who attended Wednesday’s quarterly meeting, said the university should “cut the fat” from the dormitory, food service and student center operations.
Allan Golden, vice president for administration and finance, said the State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors, which runs the 14 state-owned universities, considers those services as auxiliary and does not allow the schools to use operating funds to support them.
He said they must be self-sustaining operations, with student fees paying all expenses.
Lese said the regular increases in those fees could “drive students to other schools or out of the state.”
The trustees have raised the auxiliary service fees every year in recent history.
“Our fees are near the high end of the 14 (universities),” Golden said, noting that Cal U has the second smallest number of students living on campus among the State System schools.
He also said the services funded by the fees help attract students.
Cal U President Dr. Angelo Armenti Jr. said only 1,200 students reside in campus dorms. Larger State System schools like Indiana University have almost 3,000 and they are able to negotiate lower unit prices because of their higher volume of students.
Contracts for services, unionized employees who work in those auxiliary departments and management personnel are negotiated by the State System, Armenti said. “The cost structure is handed to us.”
He said the governor and legislature determine the State System’s annual appropriation and then the Board of Governors sets the tuition.
Armenti called the situation a “structural imbalance” with increases in revenue not keeping pace with rising costs.
The approved increases push the rent for a double dorm room from $1,299 per semester to $1,343, and for a single room from $1,798 to $1,862.
Boarding costs were hiked from $1,268 per semester for the 19-meal plan to $1,306.
The cost for the 14-meal plan was increased from $1,209 to $1,245. The cost of all the meal plans was increased by a similar margin.
The fees to operate and maintain the Natali Student Center were increased from $77 per semester to $84 for full-time undergraduate and graduate students, and proportional increases were approved for part-time students.
Turning to other matters, Armenti discussed an academic program accreditation policy being prepared by State System Chancellor Dr. Judy G. Hample for consideration by the Board of Governors.
Armenti said the policy would require all 14 schools to pursue national accreditation for each of the programs for which accreditation is offered by professional or academic organizations.
The goal would be to have as many programs accredited as possible by 2007. Approximately half of Cal U’s programs are already accredited, he said.
Gaining accreditation requires preparing “massive reports” and is labor intensive and costly, Armenti said.
In other business, the trustees:
– Approved a recommendation to the Board of Governors to extend Armenti’s contract through 2005.
– Approved a certificate in leadership in the history and political science department.
– Welcomed new trustees Robert Irey, husband of Washington County Commissioner Diana L. Irey, and Lese, who replace Edward Paluso and Steven Stout, respectively.