NIU room and board rates will rise about 4 percent next school year.

The new rates, approved by the Board of Trustees last Wednesday, are supposed to help Student Housing and Dining Services make needed improvements to the residence halls.

“This year we are planning ahead for a number of things that we assume might happen next year, and we want to be ahead of the curve,” said David Dunlap, coordinator of marketing and public relations for Student Housing and Dining.

Most years, the annual budget for the residence halls does not include money set aside specifically for emergency spending. This year’s budget proposal has a category specifically for emergency repairs.

“[Each year] there are a number of things that are assumed to occur,” Dunlap said. “At some point, an elevator will go down. We don’t know which elevator. We don’t know what day, but we know that that is going to happen, and we’re accounting for those costs in the proposed budget.”

The room and board rate increases also are supposed to fund technological improvements and make the residence halls more accessible to people with disabilities. Student Housing and Dining Services administrators are trying to bring the residence halls in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“Just to maintain our position as a law-abiding institution, we needed to raise some fees,” Dunlap said.

Some students are not happy with the rate increase, though.

“With what we pay, you’d think the paint wouldn’t be chipped off the walls, the carpets would be clean and the rooms would be nicer,” said Luella Owens, a freshman clinical laboratory science major.

Freshman accountancy major Kari Brownlow has been upset with the cost, even before the hike.

“It’s overpriced,” she said. “My mom went here and said the rooms haven’t changed.”

Administrators are not surprised by the student reaction. They say student involvement in decision-making has been adequate.

“This budget was developed with student input, and there were some things changed in terms of rates … based on student input,” Dunlap said. “Anytime we raise fees, there are going to be some people whose circumstances will be challenged by that. But, I believe that most students will recognize that continued improvements are necessary for the life of the halls and a good experience for the students at NIU.”

Residence hall budgets are separate from those of the rest of the university, so any rate increase should not affect the decisions being made about student fees in other areas, including tuition.