Reports from Staff at the Meetings Each Semester Covered These Points

Annual report to: M.U. Chancellor Hank Foley From: Jeanne Abbott, chair, Residential Life and Campus Dining Committee

Date: June 1, 2016

During the 2015-2016 school year, the Residential Life and Campus Dining Committee met twice to hear Frankie Minor, director of Residential Life, outline plans for residential facilities and Julaine Kiehn, director of Campus Dining Services, discuss changes to the dining halls.

Both are facing significant challenges because of budgetary constraints, fluctuating student enrollment projections and an unsettled campus climate. All of this affects students living in campus facilities and is compounded by ever-changing housing and dining preferences. Both Frankie and Julaine should be recognized for their close attention to the needs of their constituencies, as well as to the demands and restrictions imposed, out of necessity, on their operations.

Reports from staff at the meetings each semester covered these points:

 Dining Services faces a 25% reduction in its operations, which will be met in several ways. One is to cut times of service, which means Plaza 900 will be closed from 2:30-4:30 p.m. most days. Another is to let positions go dark, and thus, 1.75 managerial jobs will not be filled.  To increase revenue, Dining Services is adjusting the way it handles student charges. The Tiger Plan is a new off-campus dining plan, with a base cost to cover fixed expenses and the remainder dedicated to flexible spending/decreasing balance dollars that can be used in all dining locations. After paying the base cost, the student will receive a discount, depending upon the location. Examples: In the all-you- care-to-eat locations, the customer receives a 63% discount on the cash price. There is a 50% discount in a la carte locations and a 20% discount in the Mizzou Market convenience stores.  Residential Life is working through profound occupancy issues, with a loss of 2,600 incoming students now projected. Among the efforts to meet the deficiency are closing residence halls and opening the remaining facilities to a wider group of students. In the past, facilities were dedicated almost entirely to freshmen, but transfer students are now welcome, as well as upperclass students and graduate students.  Laws and Lathrop, two halls in the Dobbs Replacement Project, will not open at all this year. Brooks Hall, replacing the demolished Jones Hall, will open in August 2016. The timeline for the remainder of the Dobbs Replacement Project is uncertain, given the current housing situation, but building replacements for Laws and Lathrop halls may be delayed.  Respect Hall will house graduate students and guest housing for the 2016-17 academic year. Excellence Hall is not expected to open for fall.  Tiger Reserve, an apartment complex two miles from campus, will only be used for graduate housing for the 2016-17 academic year. These apartments have been leased by the University for graduate

93 Perry Street[Street Address] Error! Bookmark not defined.[City], Error! Bookmark not defined.[State] Error! Bookmark not defined.[Postal Code] Phone: Error! Bookmark not defined.[Your Phone] Fax: Error! Bookmark not defined.[Your Fax] E-Mail: [email protected]@[email protected] Web: Error! Bookmark not defined.[Web Address] 2 students to help fill the need created when University Village and University Heights were disassembled.  Sober recovery housing is opening next fall, with a limited number of spaces (eight) for students who decline to participate in a drinking culture.  MU has contracted with a different vendor to maintain its laundry facilities, given problems of disrepair in the past.  This year, single-use bathroom facilities will be re-signed either “toilet” or “bathroom,” not “men” and “women.” Toilets will be spaces without any showers; bathrooms will have showers.  A completely new "key" access system around campus will be put in place this summer to standardize and anticipate chips. In sum, dealing with the loss of first-year undergraduates has put substantial pressure on both Campus Dining Facilities and Residential Life. The rehabilitation of deteriorating facilities is confronting obstacles, and filling existing space is being addressed with a variety of creative solutions – generally, welcoming the entire Mizzou student body as potential candidates for campus housing.

In the meantime, the community faces an explosion of off-campus housing for the student population that is also likely to take a hit. Columbia definitely counted upon continued growth in student numbers at MU, and now that investment is seriously threatened. The UM and MU administrations would be wise to keep track of community instability since it impacts the quality of life for students, faculty and staff.

There was some discussion among committee members this year about the continued need for such a group, given that the committee meets just twice a year and has no deliberative role. It was the consensus of members, however, with the agreement of the two campus directors, that the committee does have a role in listening to plans and proposals and providing feedback. Thus, it is the committee’s recommendation that the body continue to function.

Respectfully submitted by, Jeanne Abbott, chair of the MU Residential Life and Campus Dining Committee Associate professor, School of Journalism