Residence halls expect regents OK on rate hike

Jim Van Arsdel said he was concerned because an e-mail message was sent Tuesday over the Residence Hall Association's listserv that implied that students "had no knowledge of what was going on."

The message, which was sent to about 350 individuals by Jeff Schrade, Arizona Students' Association Task Force director, was written to encourage students to attend the Arizona Board of Regents' tuition hearing Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Harvill Building Room 211.

Van Arsdel said Schrade's message was unclear because RHA members have already spent many hours determining the university's proposed residence hall rate increase.

The e-mail asked students, "Do you know how much you will be paying for your residence hall or tuition next year? No? Well, neither does anyone else because these rates have not been set yet!!!"

Van Arsdel said the proposed increase, which was voted on Dec. 5 by RHA and approved by Residence Life and the University of Arizona's budget office, will not be finalized until it is set by the regents.

He said it "did not feel right" for a person who was not part of the rate setting process (Schrade) to make the statement in the e-mail message.

"My reading was that in his effort to get attention, what happened was that he implied that students were not knowledgeable and uninvolved," he said.

"We have gone through two important government structures throughout this process."

Representatives from both RHA and the Associated Students contributed to the 3.5 percent increase proposal.

RHA President Chris Christensen said he responded to the message by sending a coun ter-message reminding listserv subscribers of the proposed increase.

"I wanted to add clarification to Mr. Schrade's message," he said.

"More students need to understand that RHA does the best they can for the residents - we can only do so much."

Christensen said the increase is due to inflation and the continuation of programs and services, such as a free daily planner given to all residents.

Although residence hall rates and tuition represent the total cost of education, they are funded differently, Van Arsdel said.

"The cost of tuition is supported through state tax revenues that don't exist in residence halls," Van Arsdel said.

"Residence halls are self-supporting and actually pay the university overhead costs so we can be here."

He said that, in the past, "cheap" rates led to poor halls and facilities.

"People need to ask themselves what they want," Van Arsdel said.

"There has to be a balance."

Christensen and Van Arsdel said there has never been a time the regents did not approve the university's rate increase recommendation.

"I would hope the board would support RHA's recommendation," Christensen said.

"We are the voice of the students."

Van Arsdel said that the regents would take student opinions into consideration.

"There is no question that they will listen," Van Arsdel said. "If the regents take time out of their busy schedules to show up for a hearing, you bet they will be listening."

The regents unanimously decided in January that residence hall rates would be set in conjunction with tuition at their April 24-25 meeting, Student Regent Jonathan Schmitt said. Residence hall rates used to be set by the board in February.

"We decided to do this so we would have a better idea of what students pay," said Schmitt, a University of Arizona agriculture senior. "Students don't just pay tuition, they pay for food and for residence halls, too."

Because of this change, students and families will be able to convey their residence hall rate concerns to the board at its fifth-annual tuition hearing. The hearing will be held simultaneously at the UA, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, ASU West, ASU East, NAU-Yuma and UA-Sierra Vista campuses via interactive television.

Schrade said the e-mail message is one of the techniques the ASA Task Force is using to encourage students to come to the hearing.

The Task Force is a lobbying branch of the student government dedicated to mobilizing student support and raising students' awareness, he said.

"Hopefully the regents will recognize that tuition is the least of our worries," Schrade said. "We have more to pay than that."