Friday the UA System Board of Trustees unanimously approved high tuition increases and the construction of a new residence hall on north campus.
Tuition will increase nearly 13 percent for in-state students in the 2010-2011 school year, from $7000 to $7900. Out-of-state tuition will rise almost 7 percent, from $19,200 to $20,500.
“We are trying to make certain we preserve the fiscal integrity of this system,” UA system chancellor Malcolm Portera said. “We want to protect the quality of academic programs at our institutions.”
The $900 in-state tuition jump is one of the largest in school history. Portera and members of the board attributed much of the increase to substantial cuts in state funding in the last two years.
“We are starting with the assumption that the state revenues are going to remain flat or decline,” Portera said.
Though tuition is used in many areas of University operation, board president pro tem Finis St. John said a key application of the funds would be maintaining competitive salaries for faculty and staff.
“That directly affects students,” St. John said. “It’s not possible to do if you start slashing our budgets.”
St. John said he was unsure whether state budget cuts were simply related to the recession or conveyed a shift in the economic relationship between the University and the state government. In the last two years the UA system has lost $170 million in state funding.
“We expect that it is a part of the economic cycle,” he said. “We hope more robust levels of state funding are in the future, but we don’t know that.”
The board also approved the construction on a 984-person, seven story residential hall.
The North Bluff Residential Community, which is set to be built near the intersection of Old Hackberry Road and Jack Warner Parkway, will be set up similarly to Ridgecrest South Residential Community, said Tim Leopard, assistant vice president of construction.
“Rooms will be exactly like Ridgecrest in the layout and architectural finishes, so we were able to negotiate a reduction with the architect and his fees, because he doesn’t have to design that again,” Leopard said.
As a result, the project’s architectural fees were negotiated at 10 to 13 percent less than the state’s standard approval rate, making the total cost about $66 million, according to the annual consolidated capital projects and facilities report.
The site development plan also includes a new parking lot, but its location has yet to be finalized. However, University President Robert Witt said he anticipates a proposal to place a parking deck in the area will be submitted to the board in the near future.
Plans for the architectural design of Alston Hall Dining Services were also approved. The facility, which will be located in the walkway between Alston Hall and Bidgood Hall, will replace the Bidgood Bistro and feature a Subway and a Starbucks.
Leopard said the University will move forward with the project within a month, and it’s expected to be finished by December. The projected cost is about $1 million.
Bidgood Bistro will be left open “until the last possible moment,” Leopard said, and plans have been made to reroute students while the walkway is under construction.
The board also approved the demolition of several academic and residential buildings, including New Hall, Wilson Hall, Byrd Hall and Parker-Adams Hall. According to board documents, the demolition is part of a plan to make room for a New Sorority Row behind the President’s Mansion. However, no timetable has been set for the demolition and University officials could provide no details on New Sorority Row.
University spokeswoman Cathy Andreen said the demolition would not progress until all students had been relocated to other residence halls.
In addition the board also passed the following resolutions: • Negotiation of an owner-architect agreement for the construction of Phase IV of the Science and Engineering Complex Project • A $300,000 budget increase for renovations to the Softball Stadium, from $1.5 million to $1.8 million • Revision of the architectural design for the construction of the Hillel Activity Center • Installation of a national championship plaque and sculpture of Nick Saban in the North Entrance Plaza at Bryant-Denny Stadium
