Administrators acknowledge room and board increase may limit students' options when picking LLCs
By Alison Treen, Staff Writer
Renovations have taken over Miami, replacing open fields on Western Campus with modern LEED-certified residence halls and draping the old dorms of East Quad in construction sheets. However, the progression in residence and dining hall development comes at a price for both students who choose to live in renovated halls and those who do not.
According to the minutes of the Board of Trustees meeting Dec. 4, 2014, all but one residence hall will experience a price hike.
A double room in a traditional, non-renovated hall increased 8.14 percent from $2,702 in the 2014 fall semester to $2,924 in the 2015 spring semester.
Non-renovated residence halls rates will also increase said Vice President for Finance and Business Services David Creamer.
The only on-campus residence hall that will not experience a price shift is Heritage Commons, which will remain at its $4,982 semesterly cost.
However, the same double occupancy in a renovated hall will increase from $2,989 to $3,150, a 5.38 percent increase.
In newly constructed halls, the cost of a double will rise from $3,538 to $3,724, a 5.26 percent change.
Single, triple and quad rates will also experience similar proportionate increases.
The idea to raise residence hall fees was first proposed in 2009 and approved by the Board of Trustees in 2010, Creamer said. Each year since, prices have slowly risen.
"We're roughly five years [into] a 15 to 20-year plan of improving residence and dining halls," Creamer said.
The reason Miami has chosen to focus on renovating its residence halls is mainly due to complaints received in previous years.
Many students lived in small rooms with limited amenities, such as a lack of temperature control, and wanted improved living conditions.
"It seems logical," first-year Marykate McCarthy said of the price increase. "It would definitely be a contributing factor to my choice [of where to live], but you do have to spend a whole academic year here so you may as well be comfortable."
However, Creamer acknowledged potential issues with the new policy.
First-years and sophomores may choose to live in Living Learning Communities (LLCs), which groups students based on common interests - both academic or extracurricular - in the same residence halls.
But the varying costs between residence halls may influence a student's LLC choice.
Creamer said the university is aware of this issue and is trying to ensure that students are not excluded from certain LLCs because of affordability.
"Any time we go through this big [of a] change, there's always some risk that there will be some unintended outcomes," he said.
For now, Creamer said he anticipated most students will still have a variety of choices regarding type of residence hall.
However, as the 10-year process of renovating all residence halls nears, the options available will become more expensive across the board.
"We'll see a much more difficult situation as we look toward the future," Creamer said.
To counter the rising living costs, Creamer said there might be an increase in triples. Although space would be more limited with three people in a room versus one or two, the price would be more affordable.
In order to determine these prices, the university used a consultant.
"We did a lot of modeling of how the new rooms would interface with the existing beds and how that would affect things financially," Creamer said.
Besides a consultant's expertise, room rates are also determined by the costs needed to recover the renovations and market comparison with other universities. The university looks at room size, type of room and relative newness, as well as amenities available.
Another important factor is Miami's standing with the state of Ohio.
"We're an entity of the state. We're not here to make a profit; the state doesn't pay toward room and board," Creamer said, adding that Miami is trying to keep the cost as low as possible for students.
Sophomore Althea Perley said she recognizes that such price changes may be necessary, but thinks the university needs to be forthcoming with the cost differences between each residence hall, as well as the quality difference.
"I think it's smart on the school's part because [Hillcrest Hall] versus Dennison should cost more, I guess," Perley said. "I think they should have pictures and explain exactly what you're getting, though, like what the difference is. When you go on a tour they can't show you all types of dorms, and if you're paying more you should know why."
As more dorms are renovated, students may consider location, amenities, room size and occupancy - and, underlying all, cost.