Regents OK 25 percent hikes in dorm rent
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By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer
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With virtually no opposition from the student body, the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents yesterday approved potentially hefty increases in dorm rental fees to offset the cost of an ambitious $100 million upgrade program for on-campus housing facilities.
Under the proposal given initial approval yesterday by the regents, UH-Manoa students could pay up to 25 percent more to live on-campus by 2012.
Specifically, the regents granted Manoa Chancellor Denise Konan authority to increase dormitory rental rates by up to 5 percent a year for the next five years.
Konan said more meetings with students would be held before any changes are put in place. She said any increase in room rates would be used to offset the expected cost of more than $100 million in renovations, improvements and other repairs to on-campus housing facilities.
"We're trying to address the backlog of repairs and ongoing maintenance that's needed to give our students a complete first-class experience, including housing, comparable to other universities in the country," she said.
TOP RENT NOW $5,427
If the full range of increases is implemented, the top cost for a single, on-campus dormitory room could rise to $6,926 by 2012. Current room rates, which were last increased in 2004, range from $2,817 to $5,427 per year, officials said. The school has about 3,000 on-campus dormitory spaces.
The potential rent increases follow a series of other cost increases affecting the price of a UH education.
Yesterday's action by the regents does not guarantee that the full 5 percent per year increase will be instituted, but it was clear from testimony offered by several UH officials that they are counting on the additional funds to meet the costs of ongoing and planned improvements.
"We're borrowing lots of money and we need to pay it back," said Francisco Hernandez, vice chancellor of students at UH-Manoa.
The change would generate an estimated $5 million in new housing fees, Hernandez said.
LITTLE STUDENT INPUT
Although the regents unanimously approved giving the chancellor the power to raise room rates, several worried out loud that students had not been adequately notified of the change. No student appeared to testify at the meeting and only one, undergraduate student president Grant Teichman, submitted written testimony asking for a delay in the decision.
"I'd feel so much better if the students were here telling us what they felt," said regent Marlene Hapai. "This is going to have a major impact, and I have a major problem with the timing of this request just three days into the semester when the students are so busy."
Konan said officials had discussed the changes with student leaders three times in the past few months and would plan more public hearings before any rate increase is implemented.
Also yesterday, regents approved a new bachelor of education program at the university's West O'ahu campus. The program is designed to help fill a critical shortage of teachers in Leeward O'ahu public schools and reach out to potential Filipino and Native Hawaiian teachers, who are underrepresented as teachers in the school system, officials said.
Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
