Tuition and student fee increases were approved at Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting despite some opposition form Student Body President Sean Anderson. Anderson spoke to the board before their vote on tuition and fees to ask them to postpone a vote on campus improvement fees and to reconsider a proposed change to the health service and pharmacy fee. He said that a $6.33 increase in campus improvement fees for incoming students was never brought before student government for discussion. He asked that a vote on the fee be tabled until it had a chance to go before student government.President Lou Hencken addressed Anderson’s comment in the meeting to say that traditionally, fee increases for incoming students are not brought before student government because the new students who will be paying the fees did not elect the students to office. Tuition per semester hour for Illinois residents

FY05 guarateed students

$137.75

FY06 guarateed students

$154.30

FY07 guarateed students

$173.55

FY08 guarateed students

$194.40

FY08 continuing, non-guarenteed students

$158.65

FY08 graduate students

$189.75

Student Fee Increases

FY07

FY08

Increase

Textbook Retal Fee

$7.95

$8.95

$1/credit hr

Health Service and Pharmacy Fee

$82.90   

$90.90   

$8

Health and Accident Insurance Fee

$101.95

$109.95

$8

Campus Improvement Fee (new students only)

$5.67

$12

$6.33

Athletics Fee

$81.05

$92.30

$11.25

Outside of the meeting, Anderson claimed that the Board of Trustees broke the law for passing the increase without presenting it to student government. He cited a 2001 Illinois Board of Higher Education student fees policy that says “governing boards should ensure that campuses adopt policies that specify the manner in which students will be consulted on proposals that include new fees for non-instructional purposes or proposals that significantly restructure existing fee programs.”Hencken responded to Anderson’s accusation by saying that the university did not create a new student fee, but only slightly increased an existing fee. He also reiterated Eastern’s tradition of not bringing new student fees before student government because those student representatives were not elected by incoming students. He also said this IBHE policy is not a law and that the board maintains control of changing student fees. “This is an example where Sean is not correct,” Hencken said. “When it comes to setting fees, the legal entity for a public university in the state of Illinois is the Board of Trustees.“I think the university is well aware of laws. It’s unfortunate that people would make statements with knowing just part of the facts.” Anderson also objected to a change in the health service and pharmacy student fee. The fee was brought before student government and the amount of the fee increase was approved, but who has to pay the fee was not. The proposed change asked to lower the cap of credit hours an undergrad could take and still have to pay the full health services and pharmacy fee. The board passed the fee change so that undergraduates taking nine credit hours or more would have to pay the full fee. This was lowered from 12 credit hours. Anderson asked the board not to approve this change because there was no change made for graduate students who pay the full fee if taking nine credit hours. “This sets a precedent that you can charge one group of students more than another group of students,” Anderson said, addressing the board. He asked that the number of credit hours for graduate students also be lowered as it was for undergraduate students. Dan Nadler, vice president for student affairs, addressed Anderson’s comments during the meeting. “It’s such a different situation with students on the graduate level,” he said. “You’re really dealing with two different kinds of students.” He said that many graduate students are older and have private insurance plans that cover their health and pharmacy expenses outside of health services. The board approved the change in undergraduate credit hours under the fee, as well as an increase in textbook rental fees, athletic fees and health and accident insurance fees, which are optional for students. “Many of our student fees – if not the lowest in the state, they are among the lowest in the state,” Nadler said. “I think over all our, students are getting a good deal here.” Amanda Raz, student executive vice president, abstained from the tuition and fees vote. The other board members passed the changes unanimously.  After the vote, Anderson said he was disappointed with the board and with Nadler. “I’m afraid for student government,” he said. “They did a disservice to the students.” He thinks students will lose confidence in the shared governance that Eastern employs. Along with the student fees, the board also approved an increase in incoming student tuition for the 2007-2008 year from $173.55 to $194.40.An $11.10 increase for current students not covered by the Truth in Tuition Law was approved making it $158.65 per credit hour. Graduate students will see a $20.35 per semester hour increase taking it from $169.40 to $189.75 a credit hour. Students enrolled at Eastern by fall 2004 are locked into their current tuition rates. Hencken said the need for tuition increases is because of a shortage of state funding that began in 2002. The decrease in state funding and increase in tuition was displayed with a graph for the board with a projector. “What you see in front of you is what I believe to be a very dangerous trend that EIU has had to endure because of state budget cuts,” Hencken said.  The university has seen increased expenses in unfunded military grants, coal prices, minimum wage increases, faculty salary increases and more, Hencken said. Also, the university will need $692,000 a year to pay for the operations and maintenance of the Doudna Fine Arts building, and the university has a backlog of $100 million in deferred maintenance. “We cannot let our buildings deteriorate,” Hencken said. “We cannot let our faculty go to other institutions. That’s why I come before you and ask for a tuition increase.” If Eastern does not receive the proposed $904,000 from the state next year, Hencken expects the university to be in a difficult situation. In other business, University Police Chief Adam Due addressed the board about campus security at Hencken’s request. “After the incident at Virginia Tech, I thought it might be a good idea to have a discussion about campus security,” he said. “I wanted to alert the board that the university has in the past and will continue to take the safety of the students, staff and community importantly.” Due said the University Police Department employs 21 officers and is looking to hire two or three more. The officers participate in emergency response training to prepare for emergency situations on campus.Faculty Senate Chair Assege HaileMariam also addressed the Virginia Tech shooting while speaking to the board. She asked the board and Nadler to look into the student mental health policies at Eastern in order to keep the campus safe. “My question is to you our leaders, is what are we doing to offer services to our students as far as counseling that they might need?” HaileMariam said. This was her last opportunity to address the board as faculty senate chair because her term ends this year. She took the opportunity to ask the board to improve assessment, technology and the physical sciences building – three areas that she said need attention at Eastern. Also, the board elected officers and set a meeting schedule for the 2007-2008 year. Robert Webb will serve as chair, Roger Kratochvil will serve as vice chair, Leo Welch will serve as secretary and William O’Rourke will serve as member pro tem. Fourteen faculty members were also approved for tenure, and the name of the Department of Physical Education was changed to the Department of Kinesiology and Sports Medicine.