Posted on: Friday, January 21, 2005
Hilo dorm fees to rise 20% in fall
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Education Writer
Student housing charges at the University of Hawai'i-Hilo will increase by 20 percent in the fall semester — and an additional 15 percent and 10 percent in the two following years — to bring costs closer to those of peer institutions and provide money for additional student services.
During its monthly meeting yesterday, the UH Board of Regents approved the increases. The most inexpensive accommodation — $1,828 per year for a double occupancy dorm room — will go up by $365. The most expensive — $2,478 for a two-bedroom apartment shared by four students — will increase by $495.
UH-Hilo chancellor Rose Tseng said students support the measure because they want the additional services the money will help provide, including in-room cable TV.
"I think it will be (affordable)," said Hilo student Cinnamon Brown, president of residential housing at the Big Island campus. "I'm all the way from Atlanta and I've never seen dorms this affordable for what they offer. It's amazing."
At the same time, regents gave Tseng permission to move forward in planning a new dorm to add another 600 beds for students at the Hilo campus. The campus will launch in the next few months the same process occurring at UH-Manoa, a request for developers interested in a public/private partnership.
Already in process is the new China-U.S. Center dormitory with 760 beds that is expected to open in August 2006.
Tseng said she hopes her campus will eventually provide enough housing for about half of the student body that's expected to grow to 5,000 in the next few years.
At the same meeting regents approved a proposal to test out the addition of two rows totalling 40 "high-roller" courtside seats at a UH men's volleyball game this spring in anticipation of installing the concept at next fall's UH women's volleyball games.
The premium-priced courtside seating concept, popular on the Mainland, is already in practice for men's basketball and has raised $110,000 in additional funds for UH athletics. Courtside basketball tickets are $2,500 for the season; the proposal is to ask between $1,000 to $2,000 for volleyball season tickets.
However, in approving the concept yesterday for the pricey volleyball seats, regents did so with the understanding that the university will buy a liability insurance policy of between $1 million to $2 million to cover all events in the Stan Sheriff Center. Currently the university is self-insured for sporting events.
Concerns revolved around the possibility that players going after a ball outside the court could injure fans, or be injured themselves.
As regents conducted their monthly meeting at Kapi'olani Community College, administrators posted good news on the UH Web site — a progress report by one of the university's accrediting agencies that said there had been major improvement in top working relationships at UH.
"With respect to system leadership and governance, the situation has changed dramatically," said the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) in a report on the UH system after a special visit in the fall. "Rather than tensions and acrimony between the board and president, the team found solid trust and the beginning of a very effective and professional working relationship between the president and the board."
The report praised the board for engaging in training and orientation over the past six months. Regents' chairwoman Patricia Lee said the board has also worked "to streamline and improve its own systems and procedures and WASC has also validated these efforts."
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
