Inside Iowa State

March 14, 2008

Regents review proposed parking and residence rates for next year

by Anne Krapfl

The cost of employee parking permits would go up about 4 percent next year, under rates presented to the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, March 11. The regents will vote on the proposed increases at their next meeting, April 30-May 1. If approved, the rates take effect July 1.

Annual and semester permits for the Memorial Union parking ramp would go up 2.9 percent as proposed, and most of the hourly rates for the ramp would remain unchanged, including the proposed daily maximum rate ($8). Rates for the fourth, fifth and sixth hours would go up 25 cents.

Permit	Actual FY08	Proposed FY09
Reserved	$409	$425
24-hour reserved	$734	$763
General staff*	$114	$119
Vendor	$148	$154
Department	$114	$119
Staff motorcycle	$38	$40
MU ramp (annual)	$417	$429
MU ramp (semester)	$173	$178

*includes residence dept. and Ames Lab

Student room and board

The regents also got a first look at proposed residence hall and meal plan rates for 2008-09. There are nearly 40 room rates, based on the residence hall a student selects and the number of roommates, and 12 meal plan options; students can choose the options that best suit them.

For example, the proposed cost for a double-occupancy room in the Richardson Court residence halls and a full board plan next year is $6,884, a 3.6 percent increase over the current rate of $6,645. Room rates in all the halls would go up a proposed 2.75 percent, and meal plans would rise 3.7 percent to 5.1 percent, depending on the plan selected.

Apartment rates at Frederiksen Court would go up a proposed 1.75 percent, and monthly apartment rates at Schilletter Village and University Village would go up 2 percent.

The occupancy rate in the residence system, at 95 percent this year, is projected to hover around 89 percent for the next five years. But that's a conservative estimate, said residence director Peter Englin.

He said his forecast is intentionally conservative to meet budget expectations between now and 2012, and to insulate the department from having to make dramatic changes.

"To meet the expectations of our students and their families, we have to provide choices," he said. "We've worked really hard over the last 10 years to build and renovate buildings that give them choices. Our residence leaders also have worked hard at building a sense of community because we know students have a lot of choices in this market."

Their efforts are seeing a return. This year alone, the residence system is home to 350 more returning students than projected. The additional students allow the department to accelerate its maintenance and renovation schedule, for example, retrofitting the older halls with sprinkler systems.

Egg Industry Center

The regents approved Iowa State's proposal for an Egg Industry Center in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to address research and education needs of the egg industry. Regent approval of the center technically isn't necessary at this point because it will cost ISU less than $250,000 annually, at least initially. But the goal is to eventually operate the center from a $10 million endowment, of which the Iowa Egg Council has pledged the first $2 million. The center would have a full-time director at that time.

The new center will be modeled after the Iowa Beef Center and the Iowa Pork Industry Center. In addition to strong partnerships with egg groups in the state, plans are for the center to develop relationships and funding partnerships with the national egg industry as well as other land-grant universities. There is no nationally coordinated effort that addresses the research needs of the egg industry, and Iowa is by far the leading egg-producing state, said Maynard Hogberg, chair of animal science and member of the planning committee.

Until a director can be hired, a team of department chairs in the college will coordinate administration of the center and jump-start some research programs, he said. Funding for the first three years (about $50,000 annually) will come from college reallocations.

Building names

In other business, the regents approved ISU requests to:

• Name the new chemistry facility Hach Hall, for ISU alumnus Clifford Hach (deceased) and his wife Kathryn Hach Darrow. They formed the Hach Chemical Co. in Ames in 1947. Hach Darrow pledged a $10 million gift to the chemistry facility earlier this month.
• Rename the hospital and clinic areas of the College of Veterinary Medicine the Dr. W. Eugene and Linda Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center (formerly Teaching Hospital) to better reflect its medical mission. The old name incorrectly suggested to some clients that their animals might be used for experimental purposes.
• Sell up to $11 million in Dormitory Revenue refunding bonds to cover the 2009-19 payments on $15.7 million of Dormitory Revenue bonds sold in 1998 for renovation work in the Maple-Willow-Larch complex. Lower interest rates today will result in an estimated savings of $705,000.

The board also elected regents David Miles and Jack Evans to two-year terms as president and president pro-tem, respectively, of the board. Both regents had been serving in those posts on an interim basis.

Regents will approve parking rates and student room and board rates at their April 30-May 1 meeting.