The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate on Sunday endorsed a raise in the on-campus housing commitment fee from $500 to $750 in response to increasing abuse of the housing system.
The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs and the Office of Residential Life and Learning will consider the endorsement, which Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman has indicated he will honor.
The fee is the portion of the housing bill that is not refunded if a student chooses to move out of a room before his or her contract expires. Increasing the fee does not mean that the overall housing bill increases, because it refers only to the portion of the bill that will not be refunded in the event of a violation of the housing contract.
The Senate's resolution endorsing the increase, which passed 20-3-2, followed Reitman's visit to the Senate last week, during which he suggested that the effectiveness of the current fee be reconsidered.
According to Reitman, the number of students rescinding on their housing arrangements early has been steadily increasing over the past five years. Over 100 students paid the fee last year.
"There has been no modification in that fee since a decade ago," he said. "At some point you decide something needs to be addressed."
TCU Senator Wyatt Cadley said that the change in the commitment fee is meant to increase protection against students abusing the housing lottery.
"You have students that are taking advantage of the system, and the Senate needed to send a message," Cadley, a freshman, said.
According to Senator Xavier Malina, a senior, the $750 took inflation into account. He explained that had the fee, which has remained unchanged over the past 10 years, increased relative to inflation, it would be about $630 today.
An increase to $1,000 was also proposed, but was rejected in favor of the $750 number.
An accompanying resolution, passed by an overwhelming majority, clarified that the Senate's support for the fee increase depended on the inclusion of exceptions for students who experience financial aid changes, and for students who move into fraternity or sorority housing.
Reitman stressed that the fee does not apply to those who are unable to continue living in university housing, and noted the existence of an appeals process for students who feel that they should not have to pay the fee.
"We're always going to listen to those arguments for exceptions," he said.
Senator Chas Morrison, a junior, pointed out that fraternities and sororities are often forced to pay their members' commitment fee when they bring in members to fill spaces in houses left by residents going abroad in the spring semester.
"The Greek houses only have so much money, so we're saying there should be an exception," he said.
Morrison, the former president of the Tufts chapter of Delta Tau Delta, feels that Greek organizations' actions in those cases do not constitute an abuse of the housing system.
Reitman before the decision had said he would go along with the Senate's recommendation, and said that he came to the Senate because it was the body that originally pushed for the creation of a fee.
"About 12 years ago there was no fee at all, and the Senate came to me and asked me to consider putting in some kind of commitment fee," he said. "They felt that too many students were capriciously entering the lottery."
According to Reitman, the Senate asked him to implement a $250 commitment fee. A year later, his data showed that the fee had had no impact, so the Senate asked that it be doubled to $500, where it has remained for the past decade.
Reitman will present the Senate's recommendation to the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering (SOE) for consideration.
Scott G. Sahagian, executive assistant dean for the SOE, said the question would be considered in a series of discussions between the deans and the trustees, in which Reitman's opinion would carry considerable weight.
"The dean is responsible for that particular area," he said. "Whatever my answer will be is whatever Dean Reitman has said."
