Bowling Green native creates t-shirt business
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FEATURES • PAGE C1
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2018
SPORTS • PAGE B1
WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 31
SIDE OF
FEES Contract with Aramark will increase student dining fee BY EMILY DELETTER HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU
W
KU students in Bowling Green will see their food fee increase to $150 per semester next fall, and future increases will bring the fee to $350 a semester within the next decade. Students choosing to opt out of WKU’s meal plan will see their $75 semester fee increase incrementally until the fall 2026 semester. These per semester fees will rise to $150 fall of 2018. Beginning fall 2019, the cost will be $300 per semester until the fall of 2022, where it will rise to $325, staying at that cost until the fall of 2026, where the final raise in fees will cost students $350 a semester. The meal plan decline balance fees, referred to as mandatory meal plan dollars or more commonly known as flex dollars, began after former-President Gary Ransdell signed a 20-year contract with food company Aramark. The fees were put in place to help fund major renovations to Garrett Conference Center. WKU’s contract with Aramark, which was approved in June 2017, includes several renovations to already existing campus eateries and totals approximately $51 million. WKU signaled its intent to enter into this contract with Aramark in March 2017. Under the contract, all full-time students not already on a meal plan are currently required to pay $75 per semester, which may be deducted from the cost if they choose to purchase a meal plan later. The fee applies only to “face-to-face” students who take 12 hours or more at Bowling Green’s main campus. It applies to anyone on the Bowling Green campus who chooses to not buy a meal plan. Under the university’s contract with Aramark, all first-year students under the age of 21, and living on campus, are required to purchase a meal plan. The lowest priced plan is $1,724 and includes $150 worth
of meal plan dollars. Board of Regents Chair Phillip Bale said approving the contract was “not something the Board of Regents had any participation in.” “It was a presidential decision,” Bale said. Staff regent Tamela Smith reiterated this point, adding that although plenty of contracts don’t come before the Board of Regents, the Board may want to reconsider that policy. “I do think the Board wants to have the opportunity to see certain contracts especially those that involve student fees,” Smith said. Bale also said this policy in the bylaws “may be something we visit.” When asked if he had concerns about the impact rising fees could have on students, Bale spoke for himself and other members of the Board. “I think everyone does, yes,” Bale said. “Absolutely.” Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Kuster said while renovations to Garrett are badly needed, there is no current plan for what exactly will happen to the building in the near future. Part of that has to do with the “moving parts” in both the university and state budget, Kuster said. “We have been working on a new design for a new building, but we haven’t decided if we’ll renovate Garrett or build a new building,” Kuster said. “We’re still gathering that information.” He said he projected a decision would not be made for the next six months.
PHOTO BY BROOK JOYNER & NIC HUEY • HERALD
One option was to move Garrett to where the Industrial Complex Building currently sits, building a new building and adding space for academic areas. “We’ve had discussions with Ogden College about that, but no discussion has been made,” Kuster said. “It seems to be a constantly moving thing.” If Garrett made the move to the current Industrial Complex Building, Kuster said a parking deck would also be involved.
SEE ARAMARK • PAGE A2
As enrollment changes, budgets don’t always follow BY MONICA KAST HERALD.NEWS@WKU.EDU
This story is the second in a series about enrollment and budgets for the different colleges at WKU. To read part one from last week, visit our website.
In the last 10 years at WKU, enrollments have shifted between colleges, with more students pursuing degrees in the College of Health and Human Services. Other colleges, like the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences and Potter College of Arts and Letters, have seen their enrollments decrease since 2007. Along with changes in enrollment, some colleges at WKU have seen changes in their budgets. Other colleges, despite changing enrollments, have seen little changes to their budgets. The College of Health and Human
Services, which had the largest increase in enrollment, also had one of the largest increases in their budget. According to the 20072008 Budget, CHHS had a budget of over $9.5 million set for that academic year. Ten years later, with a nearly 32 percent increase in enrollment, CHHS has seen a budget increase of nearly Sam 80 percent to $17.2 Evans million. The College of Edu- Dean of cation and Behavioral College of Sciences, the college Education & with the largest de- Behavioral crease in enrollment, Sciences is also the only college whose budget has decreased overall since the 2007-2008 academic year. In that academic year, CEBS had a budget of $11.4 million. For the 20172018 academic year, CEBS had a bud-
get of nearly $9.6 million, according to the 2017-2018 budget. Enrollment in CEBS has decreased by more than 34 percent since 2007. Sam Evans, dean of CEBS, said operating budgets for colleges have been relatively unchanged. “Budgets have stayed pretty much the same, with the exception of staffing,” Evans said. “In other words, you’ve got two major components of your budget. You’ve got the operating, and you’ve got the personnel. Operating has been very stable.” Evans said there has been a “decline in the number of positions in the college,” leading to a decline in the budget for staff. He said the “overall budget has reflected that.” President Timothy Caboni, in a meeting with Herald editors in January, said “there are no easy choices left” when it comes to budget reductions for WKU. He said the university needs a more modern budget model. “There is one large unit that shall
remain nameless that’s lost a third of its enrollment, and another large unit that’s doubled its enrollment during the past five to seven years,” Caboni said. “Both of those units’ budgets have stayed exactly the same. That’s not sustainable long-term. So, a new budget model will allow us to move resources to where we’re having success or reward for better performance.” Caboni said the new budget model, being created by the budget council, will allow for more clarity about “how funds flow around the university.” University College, a college which also has experienced a decrease in enrollment since 2007, experienced a large increase in budget. Merrall Price, associate dean of University College, said the large change in budget comes from “administrative reorganization and personnel changes” within University College. Price said “there’s been so much SEE BUDGETS • PAGE A2