The Student Affairs Committee and the Campus Life and Diversity Committee of the Board of Trustees recommended in a meeting today an average increase of 3.86 percent in residence hall charges and a 4.3 percent increase in meal plan rates for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
The new residence hall charges will range from a 2.8 percent increase for Peabody, Johnson and Hardwick halls to a 7.5 percent increase in the one-person apartments at 1300 and Morgan Hall.
“Our proposed rates are being held to the lowest possible levels, with the exception of very strategic increases based-upon demand,” according to the recommendation’s conclusion.
Ken Kaiser, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, said that the goal of the increases is to “make housing profitable by 2018.”
The university projects that the Office of University Housing and Residential Life will experience a net loss of roughly 65 percent for the 2015 Fiscal Year. The university will quadruple its subvention, or aid, to the office for next year.
When asked by trustee John Campolongo what else could be done to make housing profitable besides raising the rates, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Scales said that new space in Morgan Hall could be used to host academic conferences, which could bring in more revenue.
The meal plan rates were raised 4.3 percent at the recommendation of Sodexo Corporation, the company which manages and supplies Temple’s dining halls and food courts.
The university will also consolidate positions in Housing and Residential Life to save money, and projects a decrease of 3.5 percent in salaries and wages with a nearly 33 percent lower benefits ratio for next year.
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