Proposed tuition and mandatory fees for the 2014-15 academic year is the main agenda item for the December Iowa Board of Regents meeting.

If approved, this will be the first time since 1975 that tuition rates for undergraduate residents has been held constant for three years.

“What [the board is] asking for is a four percent increase in state appropriations. That’s based on the understanding that the resident undergraduate rates would not increase,” said Warren Madden, senior vice president for business and finance.

The national average increase in resident undergraduate mandatory fees and tuition rates for the past five years has been 5.9 percent. The state of Iowa has held the increase to 3.9 percent.

This will be the Board of Regents’ second reading for tuition rates.

“The only difference in the item being presented for approval is [the item] now includes some part-time rates that were not included in the October agenda item,” said Sheila Koppin-Doyle, the communications director for the Board of Regents.

Part-time rates are the same for resident and nonresident students if credit hours taken are below four. Once five credit hours are taken, resident and nonresident rates are different. To be considered part time, undergraduates must take fewer than 12 credit hours and graduate students must take below nine credit hours.

Mandatory fees are proposed to increase by .54 percent for Iowa State, the lowest of the three regent universities. This increase comes from a requested $2.80 increase in the student activities fee and $3.00 increase in student services.

The student activities fee increase, which has not increased since 2012, stems from Iowa State’s higher enrollment. The Government of the Student Body, who receives the activities fee, has experienced higher demand from the student activities it sponsors as well.

The additional money is said to cover increases in student wages and partly fund liability insurance for students using vehicles.

A new fee proposed for Iowa State is the International Student Orientation fee, for the amount of $120 for the academic year. The fee would cover costs to help improve new international student orientation that would include providing more training for leaders and meals for students.

Iowa State is requesting approval to establish a Center for Arthropod Management Technologies. The center, which would attempt to develop a management system of arthropod pests, would be in the Department of Entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Request for Faculty Professional Development Assignments is among the Education and Student Affairs Committee.

Professional Development Assignment is a program designed for professional development and growth within the universities and the program hopes to motivate faculty participation.

Purposes for Professional Development Assignments would include conducting research or scholarships, writing scholarly books or articles, developing new grant proposals for course materials or participating in an international program. Chosen faculty can also participate in new or specialized training within their fields.

Each university has a limit of three percent of faculty who can receive a Professional Development Assignment. Iowa State has 45 faculty members participating in the 2014 fiscal year.

A report for the 2013 fiscal year’s assignments will be given, as well as the requests for fiscal year 2015.

The meeting is a telephonic meeting originating from the Iowa State University Alumni Center on Dec. 4 with open sessions beginning at 1 p.m. and expected adjournment at 3 p.m.

Anyone can listen to board meetings live online at their website: regents.iowa.gov