Repairs to Cody, Ashley Halls taken into consideration

Starting this fall, the price of on-campus housing and meals at Northwest College is going up.

The college’s board of trustees approved the rate increases at Monday’s monthly board meeting, held at NWC’s Cody Center. The proposal set new rates for residence halls, non-traditional student housing and meal plans. Inflation, operating and maintenance costs, vendor requests, local housing markets, reserve balances and needed repairs to Cody and Ashley halls were all factors that were considered when the proposal was drafted.

“A lot of work went into gathering all the data for analysis, so the decision to implement these increases was not made capriciously,” said NWC President Stefani Hicswa. “We feel this is the best option for the college at this point.”

The most popular housing and dining option at NWC’s residence halls is a double-occupancy room with a 15-meals-per-week plan. Starting with the fall 2018 semester, that plan will cost students $3,325 per semester ($1,550 for housing and $1,775 for a block of 220 meals). That’s an increase of $445 (or roughly 15 percent) per semester.

This school year, Wyoming community colleges are charging an average of $3,018 for that plan — more than the $2,880 NWC is currently charging, but less than the rate the college is adopting, according to a memo sent by VP of Administrative Services and Finance Lisa Watson and Interim VP of Student Services Dee Havig.

“The fiscal year 2019 proposed rate exceeds the Wyoming Community College average due to future debt requirements associated with modernizing Cody Hall and increased cost associated with meal plans due to decreased enrollment,” Watson wrote in the memo.

NWC is also transitioning from traditional weekly meal plans to selling a block meal plan.

“The block meal plan will provide flexibility to our students, increase participation levels while reducing the overall costs to our students,” Watson said.

Currently, NWC provides five traditional residence hall options — Ashley, Cody, Colter, Lewis & Clark and Simpson Halls — as well as two non-traditional housing options, Trapper Village Main and Trapper Village West Apartments.

The cost of staying in the residence halls will rise between $160 and $255 per semester, depending on the hall; most of the hike will go toward fixing Cody Hall, which was closed this year due to water damage.

For those living in Trapper Village Main, a one-bedroom single occupancy apartment will increase from $480 to $500 a month, while a two-bedroom, double occupancy apartment will increase from $305 to $400 a month per student.

For those in Trapper Village West, the increases are small, with rent even lowered in one case. A one-bedroom studio apartment will remain at $420 a month, a two-room studio will see just a $5 increase, to $485, while rent on a two-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath apartment, will drop from $760 to $650 a month. The rate was lowered to reflect current Park County rental averages, college officials said. NWC expects to lose approximately $1,320 per month in revenue on two-bedroom units from the decrease, but thinks it will be offset by increased occupancy.

Three-bedroom and four-bedroom apartments and townhouses at Trapper Village West will increase by $7 and $10, respectively.