In an effort to be more accommodating to student needs, the Housing Office will be implementing a new billing schedule for room and board charges that will save some student’s money.

The new housing contract, which is set to take effect for next fall semester’s bills, will avoid a 1 percent interest payment on room and board bills that students currently are asked to pay.

The idea to change the housing billing contract came from an initiative by the Housing Office and the Residence Hall Association to reevaluate housing policies that “don’t make sense for students,” Mark Hudson, director of Housing and Dining, said.

Students residing in residence halls next fall will receive their housing bills in May and then must make an initial payment of $250 by June 12 and the remainder of the bill is then due by the start of the semester, he said.

In past years, students also received their housing bills in May, and they had to make a slightly lower down payment of $200 by June 13. Students also had until the start of the fall semester to pay the balance of their housing bills. In the mean time, however, Hudson said students had to pay a 1 percent interest charge on their balance over the summer until they paid off the bills.

With the new billing contract, the interest rate is eliminated, allowing students the entire summer to pay the housing bill without a penalty of additional charges, Hudson said.

“It’s all about saving you money,” he said, referring to the students.

For the 2001-2002 school year, university housing cost $2,327 for a traditional double room and 12 meals, plus dining dollars. With the old housing contract, $200 would be due by June 13. Until the remaining $2,127 was paid, students would have to pay $21.27 per month for interest charges.

So, if a student waited until the start of the fall semester to pay their balance to the university, they would have paid an additional $42.54 to the original housing bill of $2,327.

The new housing contract was written last month, and it is currently being finished and will be implemented for this fall’s housing payments, Hudson said.

He also said the new billing will eliminate confusion among students who attend summer school. With the past housing contract, a summer school student had both the summer and fall balances owed to the university on their bill. Now summer school students will deal with only summer payments during their summer term.

Hudson said other policies have been altered as a result of this effort including the cancellation of the micro-fridge policy and the addition of 24-hour visitation hours to Lawson Hall.

“Our goal is to have an organization that is well served by the students,” he said.