President Benjamin Ladner commented on budget, tuition and University improvements last night in an informal question-and-answer session hosted by the 2007 and 2008 Class Councils.
Ladner said he was in the "final stages" of deciding the budget, including next year's tuition raise, and that he would "make a final decision [on the budget] to present to the Board of Trustees in a week or so."
"The budget has a core set of financial commitments every year that we can't change or influence," Ladner said, explaining one of the reasons behind the tuition increase. Ladner cited rising costs in the "double-digit percentages" of health care and utilities as contributing factors in the tuition increase.
Tuition is expected to increase 4.5 to 6.5 percent (more than $1,000) each year for the next two years, Provost Neil Kerwin announced last week, The Eagle reported.
Ladner also stated that the final budget will be published upon approval and will be available for students to read.
One member of the freshman Class Council expressed disappointment in the Student Health Center, to which Ladner replied, "Help is on the way." He pointed to improvements such as the new health center opening in McCabe Hall in the "next couple of months." The new center will include several physicians, and a wellness center for new programming.
"You'll have a whole new approach to health care," Ladner said.
Another key issue at the forum was the decision to drop local and long-distance service in room phones in the residence halls. Ladner quickly asserted that he made the decision after assessing the costs and studies conducted in the Kogod School of Business.
"It was a decision based on what's going to benefit the most people and help the University the most," he said.
Vice President of Campus Life Gail Hanson joined Ladner to say that the change will save more than $1 million in upkeep as opposed to the several hundred thousand dollars of revenue the phones create.
Hanson said that 84 to 85 percent of AU students currently have cell phones, and that the administration is working with cell phone providers to increase that number. Still, Hanson conceded that the change will take some time.
"It won't be as convenient immediately," she said.
Some students have expressed disapproval that the phone service is being limited while housing costs are expected to increase over the next year.
Over the next several years, Ladner said he is looking to increase AU's worldwide ties, mentioning talks with China and "six to eight other countries about fostering and developing American Universities abroad."
"Hardly a week goes by when some country or another doesn't contact me to see if we can't do that sort of thing there," said Ladner, mentioning Iraq as a recent example.
"We're not quite ready for [Iraq] yet, but maybe in a few years," he said.
Asked what his greatest accomplishment at AU has been, Ladner paused to consider for a moment. After praising a "brilliant set of vice presidents," Ladner said he was most proud of the "AU culture."
"People are committed to taking care of each other [at AU], we have a moral obligation to do so," he said. "This is real life you're living here. It's not just a parenthesis."
Ladner will deliver his annual address today at 4 p.m. in Ward 1.
