Western’s Board of Trustees will consider tuition, fees and room and board increases for students entering the University in Summer and Fall 2005 and the purchase of a former sorority house for use as an International House at Western’s Friday, March 11 meeting in the University Union Capitol Rooms.

The Board will begin with the finance committee meeting at 8:30 a.m. The academic and student services committee meeting will follow and the full Board meeting will start at approximately 11 a.m., after committee sessions. An executive session will be held in accordance with the provisions of the Open Meetings Act. The open meeting will resume at approximately noon, following the executive session.

Under review is a tuition increase of 9.5 percent for new students only. This would be equivalent to an increase of 3.17 percent per year for those students, while maintaining the University’s cost guarantee program. Students entering Western are guaranteed they will pay the same rate for tuition, fees and on-campus room and board for their four years of continuous enrollment. Two other rate changes are proposed: reducing the out-of-state undergraduate tuition rate from two times the in-state rate to 1.5 times the Illinois rate and expanding the number of Iowa and Missouri border counties considered as in-state for purposes of Illinois tuition.

The Board agenda includes consideration of a 6.5 percent increase in room and board rates and a fee rate hike of 6.48 percent for incoming students. The Board will consider establishing a facilities enhancement and life safety fee of $7 per credit hour to be charged to incoming students, effective Fall 2005. The facilities safety fee resources would be used to fund state-mandated sprinklers installation in residence halls and other safety features. The fund may also be used for other student services facilities, such as a multicultural center.

Undergraduate students entering Western in Summer/Fall 2005 will pay $4,968 in annual tuition, based on 15 hours per semester at a $165.60 per semester hour rate. The tuition rate is $151.25 per semester hour for students who entered in Fall 2004, $130.50 per semester hour for students who entered Fall 2003 and $115.50 per semester hour for students who entered in Fall 2002.

Proposed room and board increases for entering students amount to $375 for double occupancy and $450 annually for single occupancy. The proposed student fee allocation for incoming Western-Macomb students is an increase of $142.50 per semester for students with a 15-semester hour schedule. Room, board and fee rates established for entering freshmen are also guaranteed with tuition through the Western cost guarantee.

The University is asking the Board to authorize the purchase of the former Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority house at 800 Westbrook Circle for use as an International House. While many international students and their families are accommodated in on-campus apartments, undergraduate international students also often need 12-month housing locations where they are able to prepare their own meals. A campus residence hall floor was converted to provide housing but the opportunity to acquire the 9,420 square foot structure built in 1994 near the campus provides an opportunity for undergraduate international students to live in a different environment. The University would staff the house with a graduate assistant. The cost of the property would not exceed $395,000.

The Board will also consider contracts for the operation of the University’s GoWest Transit System and the purchase of Illinois coal for use in the Heating Plant.