The 6.95 percent increase in room and board rates for next year was presented at Wednesday night’s Student Senate meeting.

Mark Hudson, director of Housing and Dining, presented the projected budget for fiscal year 2008.

The Bond Revenue Committee, comprised of three Student Senate members and three Residence Hall Association members, proposed the increase.

The Bond Revenue Committee has spent more than 10 hours looking over the Housing and Dining budget, Hudson said.

A 3 percent increase in staff salaries is from a previous labor agreement. Student salaries will also cost housing more from the minimum wage increase that will go into effect, he said.

A 4 percent increase in food and commodities for dining was decided when the companies that supply dining estimated prices for next year, Hudson said.

Approximately $3.5 million dollars will go toward capital projects for next year. Capital projects include things that are not covered by everyday expenses for Housing and Dining.

Housing and Dining is currently implementing a 10-year $75-million renovation plan, Hudson said.

All on-campus housing in Illinois will be required to have fire sprinklers installed by Jan. 1, 2013, and that project alone costs $12 million, he said.

Other projects include renovating the dorm rooms with new stackable furniture. And in the summer of 2008, restroom renovations for the dorms will begin in Douglas Hall.

Overall, there is a proposed 8.42 percent increase in the Housing and Dining budget, but more revenue is brought in to offset the increase. Housing collects rent from departments such as Textbook Rental for the space it uses in Pemberton, Academics in Lawson and from Sexual Assault Counseling and Information Services.

Areas that are not seeing an increase are in cable TV and telephone service.

The contracts are currently being renewed for those services and it will allow Eastern to get premium movie channels for no additional cost to the students, Hudson said.

While there is no contract yet, on-campus housing may be getting an eight-channel HBO package and a Starz/Encore package.

Student Senate members seemed satisfied with Hudson’s presentation, as there were few questions.

Student Senate member Katie Dzielski resigned from her position because of a class conflict.