Alex Hinojosa
Staff Reporter

Photo illustration by Fernie Castillo University officals announced yesterday a new tuition installment plan, changes to the Miner Metro shuttle service and additions to UTEP’s food services

At UTEP, the sound of an occasional groan as students foot the bill for tuition is not unusual, and the sight of a car circling a parking lot, hunting for a space has simply become commonplace.

In an effort to alleviate students’ main concerns, university officials are making changes that, once implemented, promise to make UTEP a better place.

“Students have voiced their opinions through the Student Government Association (SGA), as well as through a student focus group for parking that SGA developed,” Victor Pacheco, assistant vice president for business affairs said. “Sodexho has conducted surveys as well. With all this, we have developed several plans to put into action by the fall in order to make UTEP better.”

Taming tuition trouble

One of the main issues concerning students is the amount of money spent each semester for tuition, parking and food.

“Tuition seems to go up every semester,” accounting major Elizabeth Gutierrez said. “I wish there was a way I could just pay it in installments like a bill. Since it goes up every semester, it begins to get hard to afford and there are so many fees. I would prefer that instead of paying 50 percent we could just go ahead and put down less than that, maybe 25 percent.”

The new installment plan will make paying tuition easier for students like Gutierrez.

“Historically, students were restricted to the previous payment method, which required students to pay 50 percent of their tuition at the beginning of the semester to hold their classes, with two more payments of 25 percent towards October and November,” said Carlos Hernandez, associate vice president for business affairs. “However, the state Legislature passed a bill, which allowed the universities throughout the state to choose their own payment plans that would best accommodate their students.”

The UTEP EasyPay Plan, which will go into effect this fall, will require students to pay their total tuition bill in five 20 percent payments during the semester.

“This method will make it seem much more like a monthly bill,” Hernandez said. “We’re just trying to provide the best service to our students and this new payment plan for tuition, I believe, is a positive move in making tuition more affordable to our students.”

Finding parking

As the university has continued to grow, parking has become a big issue for students. University officials say the new parking garage, which currently has about 400 parking spaces available, will open at full capacity in August, providing a total of 1,677 spaces. Currently, 130 parking garage permits have been sold.

“The reason our sales have been slow is because during summer school the number of students on campus is less than during the fall,” Pacheco said. “During the week of finals, however, we are going to open the parking garage to all students so that finding a parking space will be one less thing they have to worry about. Also, in the fall we are going to open up the silver lots to all students after 3 p.m.”

Judith Rivera, a physics and math major, is skeptical.

“Students are not about to pay over a hundred dollars just so that they can have a parking space reserved for them,” Rivera said. “Overall, students would probably prefer to pay less.”

Other changes in parking concern on-campus visitors, who will no longer be allowed to park on campus. They will have the choice of parking for an hourly rate on the first floor of the parking garage, for free at the Hilton Garden Inn or in the Academic Services Building parking lot, where a pay station will be installed.

“We get about 300 visitors a day,” Pacheco said. “In order to keep the costs of permits low we are going to require visitors to share in the cost of parking.”

From car to class

SunWest Charters will no longer be running the Miner Metro shuttle service. A national shuttle company has been selected and will be in charge of busing students to different areas of campus. These shuttles will run on two different routes. One route will provide service to those parked along Schuster Avenue and the other route will provide service to the north side of campus, running from Sun Bowl Drive to the Larry K. Durham Center. The second route will stop at the corner of University Avenue and Oregon Street. Transfer points will be marked for those wishing to take one route to get to another. A total of 10 buses are estimated to begin providing services  for students this fall.

Food for thought

While getting to and from classes may be an issue for some, dance performance major Michael Martinez’s concern is keeping his body fueled for his classes.

“I have a full schedule and spend my entire day on campus,” Martinez said. “So obviously I have to eat here, and the thing that worries me the most is that the food I consume is mostly junk food, that and the fact that it’s very expensive.”

New food venues, which include Gourmet Salad, a create-your-own salad bar, will be opening in the fall on the second floor of the Union by Chik-Fil-A.

The Academic Services Building will have a small café where coffee and grab-and-go lunches will be available. Ther are also plans to place mobile food carts at the busiest corners of campus such as Leech Grove. Other plans are being made for a food venue in the Fox Fine Arts Center.

“We realize that sometimes students don’t have time to eat a full meal or head over to the Union,” Pacheco said. “With the mobile food carts and the addition of more food venues in different areas of campus, we are hoping this will help students stay energized as they head to their classes.”

For more information regarding tuition payment plans, visit the UTEP Web site, www.utep.edu, and follow the Paying for College Link. For information regarding parking, visit the Parking and Transportation Services Web site at www.parking.utep.edu. For information regarding food services, visit www.my.utep.edu and follow the Food Services link.

The parking garage will be available to all students for free during finals week, July 18-24.