Campus Briefs

Sophomore Jeff Ellsworth and senior Kenneth Valero sponsored a discussion on rising UR tuition costs in the Welles-Brown room yesterday. This was in conjunction with their CAS 230 Conflict Resolution class, which is co-taught by Dean of Students Jody Asbury and Director of University International Relations Cary Jensen. About 15 people attended the event, including students, faculty, and administrators.The discussion consisted of a round-table discussion about rising tuition costs in relation to inflation rates and median income levels.”We decided a talk about tuition would be a good topic to discuss,” Ellsworth said.”People weren’t complaining about rises in tuition through the 1970s because median income was rising even more,” Associate Professor of Anthropology Robert Foster said.Several charts were presented showing the rise in inflation in relation to the rise in UR tuition costs. In general tuition rose faster than inflation in recent years.Ellsworth explained that UR blames rising utility costs as a large factor for the tuition increase and suggested more efficient money management as a possible way to prevent future tuition increases.”Tuition is a little steep,” Ellsworth said. “The university tells us that electricity and heating costs has been on the rise. We need to find better ways of conserving [resources] and find a more efficient way to manage costs.”Ellsworth.Most students consider rising tuition costs a significant issue.”When I get older, I don’t want to have my kids going to school with [tuition costs] at 30% or more than it is now,” Valero said.Presidential search started, committees createdChairman of the Board of Trustees Robert Witmer, Jr. recently named the members of the Trustees’ Presidential Search Committee and the University Advisory Committee.The members of the Trustee committee will be advised by three separate councils. The UAC, consisting primarily of faculty, is led by Associate Provost Lynne Davidson. In addition to faculty members, there are two spots on the committee for students, one of which has been filled by graduate student Alexis Lanning, who will also chair the Student Advisory Group that has yet to be formed. The final committee will be the Staff Advisory Group, headed by UR Medical Center Vice President Peter Robinson.The actual decision will ultimately be made by the Trustees’ Search committee. Vice President and General Secretary of the Trustees’ committee Paul Burgett will coordinate the interactions between that committee and the UAC.”I work very closely with the Chairman of the Board, G. Robert Witmer Jr. and other trustee members on all matters relating to the search, but especially the administrative details to ensure a smooth operation,” Burgett said.Because of the nature of the search, confidentiality about the specifics of the deliberation are to be expected. “The community should expect that as the committees go about their important work, little information about specific details of the process and no information about the candidates, except of course our new President, will be divulged,” Burgett said.The search will begin immediately and will continue throughout next year. It will include plans to supplement the search committee’s efforts with the aid of an executive search firm.Students are encouraged to submit names to the committee, via the Web page http://www.rochester.edu/presidentialsearch.Reporting by Michael Heand Lewis Powell.