Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1978 [PAGE 132]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

1976]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

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tion in the existing regulation. We do so because of the uncertainty of the impact of such a change on private operators of residential units, on fraternities, and on the general rate structure of the housing market in the community, on the housing market available for large numbers of our students, especially those with families, and last, but certainly not least, the uncertainty about enrollments which might require in the decades ahead, if the regulations are altered, increases in rates for students living in our dormitories beyond those we can anticipate as the result of inflation. In addition, while I believe that a one-year housing requirement would accomplish most of our educational objectives and would entail minimal risks, it would entail some risks. A policy which requires students to live in certified housing during their first two years on this campus is not unreasonable from an educational standpoint, and as we balance off costs and benefits to the various groups impacted by our policies the least risky policy seems to be to keep the regulations as they are. Thus, after a long weighing of advantages and disadvantages, costs, and benefits, we come down, although with some hesitancy, on the side of a recommendation of no change. Although no change in policy requires no action by our Board of Trustees, I believe that this matter should be reported to them in view of the widespread interest in it and the clearly expressed desire of most undergraduate students that the current housing regulations be altered. In addition, I believe that those affected by this recommendation should be alerted to it. I will do so and invite them to attend the meeting of the Board, and its appropriate committees, in the event the Board wishes to hear from the various groups directly.

In response to testimony received at the hearing of the Committee on Student Welfare and Activities and the report presented above, President Neal invited discussion of the question, making clear that no administrative recommendation for action was before the Board. T h e Trustees asked a number of questions of M r . Rebecca 1 and of Professor Katz 2 concerning various studies that have been conducted and in exploration of the statistical analyses provided. Mr. Howard moved that the existing regulations, which require undergraduate students under the age of twenty-one to live in certified housing for their first two years of study (60 hours), be reduced to 30 hours. In the discussion that followed, certain Trustees expressed their views or preferences on this matter. Among the reasons advanced for leaving the rule as it presently stands were: concern as to whether a relaxation of the rule would result in increased costs to students through increased dormitory charges; a general conviction that the University has an obligation both to protect students and to be sensitive to the impact of its policies upon the community and community housing in particular; and the significance of the large investment made over a period of years by private interests to meet the needs of the University and its students. Those who favored a relaxation in the rule indicated their belief: that no significant ill effects would result; that students were entitled to this fuller degree of freedom in their choice of housing; and that the data presented in favor

Mr. Sammy J. Rebecca, Director of the,Housing Division, Urbana-Champaign campus. Professor Robert D. Katz, Chairman of Housing Research and Development, Urbana-Champaign campus.

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