THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2011 PAGE 6A
Architecture Offices and Studios UA Students Face Tuition Increase will move for Renovations by CHAD WOODARD
by BOBBIE FOSTER News Editor
Vol Walker Hall, home of the Fay Jones School of Architecture, will undergo renovations in the next two years, during which time the department will be spread across campus and Fayetteville. The move will begin June 1, 2011. “We are packing up right now for the move out,” said Michelle Parks, Fay Jones director of communications. The advising, media relations and IT offices will be moved to Memorial Hall in the summer. “Summer orientation sessions will be held in the Arkansas Union,” Parks said. The renovations will allow all five disciplines within the college to be housed under one roof: professional architecture, architectural studies, professional landscape architecture, landscape architectural studies and interior design. During the next two years the architecture department will be spread across campus and Fayetteville. The professors’ offices will be located in the E.J. Ball building on the Fayetteville square on the 6th and 7th floor, Parks said. The landscape and interior design studios and offices will remain in the Agriculture BROOKE MCNEELY STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER building and the studio spaces Associate Architecture Professor Greg Herman labels boxes of books in his office Monday as he packs to move. The will be in the UA Planetarium Fay Jones School of Architecture building will close for renovations June 1 so everyone in the building must relocate. building, between the Arkansas Union and Silas Hunt Hall. will work for us,” she said. “[It] students remain on campus will “There will be space for ev- will be a lot easier to dedicate surely pose a challenge for all,” erybody,” Parks said. “Every- ourselves to the work know- said Lily McRae, senior archibody will have a desk.” ing that the university is just as tectural studies major. The move will prove difficult dedicated to us.” It will be hectic for students for some students. Some students think the dis- and faculty alike, McRae said. “The biggest challenge is tance between studios and pro“I think it will take some probably going to be cramming fessors’ offices will be the big- getting used to, especially for all of our equipment into the gest factor. those who have been in the arsmall space,” said Hannah Bres“Everyone is so used to be- chitecture program for a while hears, junior architecture stu- ing together under one roof and will have to readjust,” she dent. and with the professors’ offices said. “I think a lot of thought has being off the square while the gone into creating a space that
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The Arkansas Board of Trustees voted to approve a six percent tuition increase at the UA for the upcoming fall semester, which has left some UA students searching to find money to pay for their classes. “There will be a five percent increase of the base tuition and the facilities management, so it will be a six percent increase over all,” said UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart. The tuition increase comes after an increase in student enrollment at the UA. “With no money coming into the state and increasing enrollment we had to move the funding more to tuition,” said Ben Beaumont, director of communications. The lack of money coming from higher levels played a role in this increase. “No money from the state means more pressure on the students,” Gearhart said. The increase in tuition could have been more if it were not for the state. “The state did not cut any funding,” Beaumont said. “We are grateful for that.” Though different forms of administration are working together to help the students deal with this increase, some students will still find it difficult to make ends meet.
Follow-up interviews were conducted with students who had heard about the proposal of the increase and now are faced with the reality of paying more for their classes. “Spending more money is a bad thing. It means I will have to take out more student loans, which means I will have to pay more later,” said Bryce Morrell, junior advertising and public relations major. While the UA claims the rise in student population is one factor for increasing tuition, Morrell disagrees with their line of thought. “You would think if we had more students that the school would get more money and they wouldn’t have to increase tuition, and you would think if we didn’t have enough students then they would raise it,” he said. Another point that Morrell discussed is that not everyone who attends the UA lives near the campus. “I can see how it could affect commuters who are not using student loans, with rising gas prices and the cost of living going up, it will be harder for students to pay for school without using student loans,” he said. This tuition increase also affects students who work during the school year to pay for their tuition. UA student Hunter Donaldson, senior drama major,
will have to find a way to balance work, school and theater. “Every semester I have to take off work to help with one of the shows. If I don’t have that extra money then I won’t be able to do that,” he said. For many, the amount of a six percent increase seems excessive. “Six percent is a lot of money considering the [amount] of students we have. I don’t think that much was necessary, I can see increases as necessary, but I think six percent is too much,” Donaldson said. Now that the increase has become a reality Donaldson will have to find a way to cover the extra costs. “I will probably work more during the week, and that will make academics more difficult,” he said. “If I get cast [in a play] then it will be very difficult, because I will have to work more while in school and then when rehearsal starts I won’t be able to work, so I won’t have time for anything,” he said. Resident undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees were $225.58 per credit hour for the fall of 2010. That rate will rise to $239.11 per credit hour for the fall of 2011, according to the proposal that was presented at the Board of Trustees meeting.
Freshmen Cause Campus Crunch by MATTIE QUINN
Managing Editor
The 2011-2012 freshman class is already at 4,400 students, compared with last year’s record-breaking 3,900, and UA admissions officials are still accepting applications. “Our enrollment is up 30 percent, and we’ve been preparing for that for quite some time now,” said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment. “Our growth is very standard for a state that has implemented a lottery scholarship.” Despite the large numbers, UA officials are still going to require all freshmen to live on campus. “University housing has taken proactive steps very early on to make sure there would be adequate room for the incoming group of freshmen. We are going to still require all freshman to live on campus because we know we have the space for them,” McCray said. With the record-breaking population of freshmen living on campus, some people are worried about the strain on housing resources for the coming years. “From the housing perspective, it’s going to be difficult to address that need right away. I know there has been talk of the renovation of Hotz Hall and the building of a new residence hall, but those things take time and money,” said Cameron Mussar, the new Residents’ Interhall Congress president. “Are we going to have less room for upperclassmen to live on campus if we keep trending in this direction? Probably. But that’s not what I want to happen. My concern is there are people who want to live on campus, who like living on campus and who need to live on campus. However, I want to get these conversations started early so we can figure these things out as soon as we can.” With freshmen taking up a large portion of on-campus housing, shifts can be expected in what is now considered upperclassmen housing. Most of Gregson will remain upperclassmen, and I believe that Walton Hall will all be upperclassmen, Mussar said. “However, I believe that about 95 percent of the Northwest Quad will now be fresh-
men, whereas the Quad has traditionally been an upperclassmen residence hall, so we are seeing major shifts in all of that,” he said. With the probability of the off-campus community at the UA growing, keeping students feeling connected to campus is a priority of the Associated Student Government for next year. “We created a liaison to offcampus students in our cabinet to address this and also look into the real estate issues many students have been running into this spring,” said Michael Dodd, ASG president. “I’d like to look into a more students-first approach to parking, making sure that the parking and transit department is filling parking decks with the current rates, expanding parking space as much as possible and allowing for a more student-friendly ticket appeal.” One concern for UA officials for next year is making sure all of the freshmen feel at home among a larger population, as many of them have never lived on their own. “Opportunities for freshmen will be expanded through a revamped ASG Fresh HOGS and a new initiative to make RSOs and campus involvement more accessible. We will be on campus consistently with applications, student polls and a ‘campaign complain’ board, giving students a sense that the ASG office is coming to them,” Dodd said. With all freshmen still living on campus, Mussar aims to use Housing to help freshmen feel more at home, as opposed to just another number. “The first six weeks are so crucial, because that is when students start to feel connected to campus,” he said. “We want to have more programming with our hall senates, because the purpose of having programs in the residence halls is to make students feel at home and get them out and doing something.” “What I really want to see is RIC senators and RAs actively involved in socializing the community and getting people comfortable with living on campus, and also teaching them those lessons that they don’t learn in classrooms.” With all of the talk about strains on housing between
freshmen and upperclassmen, McCray isn’t worried about other resources around campus being stretched. “We have already made sure that we will have enough faculty for all of the new students and enough classroom space as well,” McCray said. Mussar and Dodd agreed that the biggest challenges in adjusting to the growth is making sure that students are happy. “Really the only thing we can address in the here and now is just making sure that these students who are on campus are having a good time. That’s all I can really hope to accomplish, and I know that ideas will come about as the year goes on to make life easier for everyone, both freshmen and upperclassmen,” Mussar said. Dodd believes in keeping the students first to ensure wellbeing on campus. “I believe one of our school’s biggest assets is the open, down-to-earth, ‘students first’ culture and that is something that should definitely be protected.” Student Affairs officials are also working across the board to accommodate the rapid growth, said Daniel Pugh, dean of students. Pat Walker Health Center officials are working to bring more doctors and counselors to campus, and options to expand the center’s hours of operation are being researched, Pugh said. An expansion to Brough’s dining services is also in the works, as well as a few other options Chartwell’s officials are examining, but are not public knowledge yet to avoid compromising those plans, Pugh said. More Greek chapters are also being examined to maintain the influx of students interested in rushing during the fall. Student affairs officials are also working with a national expert to develop a social media strategy for improved connection with students and parents, Pugh said. “We don’t know, and the expert doesn’t know, anyone else from in the nation who’s doing that,” he said. “We’re doing really exciting stuff here that’s really progressive.” Nick DeMoss contributed reporting to this article.