Dorm rates to increase, McRobbie contract renewed until 2020

The Board of Trustees voted to raise room-and-board rates 3.48 percent at a meeting Friday, as well as to extend President Michael McRobbie’s contract until 2020.

“The turnover of college presidents happens quickly,” Chairman of the Board of Trustees William Cast said. “So, there’s a lot of headhunting for people that are already in place, but because of his performance and IU’s bicentennial, his contract has been extended through 2020.”

Another item that will affect the Bloomington campus was the decision to raise residence hall rates.

“The housing rates were raised different amounts for different housing,” Reilly said. “There were several reasons for that: One, there has been inflation in costs of upkeep. The second thing was the dormitories have been the object of some programs to bring University services into the dormitories. The final thing is that RPS, which owns all of the housing, has been going as fast as it can to rebuild all of the dormitories.”

The renovations using the 3.48 percent increase also include the building of the Rose Avenue Residence Hall,  as well as the Third and Union Apartments.

New developments arose during the update on classroom utilization, which will delay any actions being taken in the near future.

“The understanding that classrooms are not used on Fridays is not entirely accurate,” Cast said.

According to reports given by various University groups and personnel, including chancellors from various campuses and the Provost’s office, Friday is a time for meetings and other activities different from traditional classroom usage.

“The Bloomington campus presented data that would indicate that the Friday utilization was down considerably compared to other days and that lower level classes are taught on Fridays,” Reilly said. “It was also pointed out that overall, across the university, and at Bloomington, we have plenty of capacity.”

While the IU administration is not looking to recruit a greater number of students, the classrooms may end up being used by different groups of students.

“I presented that there is going to be increasing pressure for non-traditional students, say that work full-time, that are going to take Friday and Saturday classes and online classes to get a degree,” Reilly said. “But there’s no need to build more capacity.”