The Board of Regents accepted a proposal from the ISU Department of Residence to increase room and board rates by $720 for next year during its Wednesday meeting at the Memorial Union.

“The increase in the Iowa State room and board plan is primarily the result of the change in board plan,” said Deb Hendrickson, associate director of Business and Finance for the Board of Regents.

Regent David Neil, of La Porte City, said he thought the increase for room rates at Iowa State are at an exorbitant amount.

“When you look at a 50 percent tuition increase on top of these [room and board] increases, what can we expect for the future?” Neil asked.

In response to this question, Thomas Hill, vice president for Student Affairs, said Iowa State wants to keep rates as low as possible and an increase can be attributed to mistakes in the model for the residence hall plan.

“The salary increases [for ISU faculty and staff] wound up not being right,” Hill said. “The salaries increased more than the model allotted for.”

The salary increases can be attributed to a rising health care costs and the American Federation for State, County and Municipal Employees union negotiations, said Warren Madden, vice president for Business and Finance.

Despite the higher costs, the Department of Residence said it is meeting requests made by students for apartment-style living and increased dining options.

Students will have access to more options and variety of food through the new meal plans, Hill said.

“Students could have unlimited meals in unlimited venues,” he said.

The room rates for Iowa State will increase between 5 and 7.75 percent, Hill said.

“The increases will be depending on the location and amenities offered [at the specific residence hall],” he said.

The residence hall rates will be stratified according to the building, said Kate Bruns, communication specialist for the Department of Residence.

Students who do not wish to pay the added increase in room rates do have alternatives, Hill said.

“The room rate will not increase at Knapp Hall for the second consecutive year,” he said.

Although there are options, most students are not choosing to live in the lower cost residence halls.

“This year we had 1,825 incoming freshman living in the dorms and only 48 individuals requested the low-cost options,” Hill said.

Randy Alexander, director of the Department of Residence, said the department has received more than 500 requests for Eaton Hall. Eaton Hall is part of the Union Drive Association and offers students suite-style living for slightly higher cost.

“Twenty-eight percent of the freshmen for next year have requested to live in Eaton Hall,” he said. “We already have enough subscriptions to fill another building this fall.”

Recent actions by the Iowa Legislature were also addressed by the Board of Regents.

“Recently, a few state legislators have incorrectly said that tuition revenues have exceeded state funding reductions imposed on the Regent institutions,” said Owen Newlin, president of the Board of Regents. “In reality, state appropriation cuts over fiscal years 2001, 2002 and 2003 have totaled $127.3 million.”

Legislation has also mandated Regent universities increase employee salaries while the state has failed to provide money to do so, Newlin said.

“When appropriation cuts and under-funded salary mandates are combined, the total hit to the Regent institutions, the past three fiscal years, is $159 million — at least $2,400 for each full-time equivalent student,” he said. “Actual and budgeted total tuition proceeds over those same three years total over $89 million. Revenues of $89 million compared to cuts of $159 million.”