2008 Woodie Awards
Keep in touch
Saint Mary's students offered unlimited domestic long distance
Be'Anka Macey
Issue date: 8/29/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
For about $6 a month, Saint Mary's residents can stay connected via their provided dormitory phones.
Previously, dorm phones were controlled by Resicom. Now the College is under new contract which allows students to make long distance calls from their rooms with only little increase to their residency tuition. Only residents are responsible for the tuition increase. Off-campus students will remain unaffected by the new phone changes.
Scott Kier, associate dean of student life & community life, said, "The Budget Committee decided to raise tuition by five percent; increase room percent to six percent." The extra one percent is what each resident pays for long distance calling. That would be about $60 a year and approximately $6 a month for doubles. "I just think it's a win-win," said Kier, "It's convenient, it's reliable, and it's free."
Each resident is provided with a dormitory phone that they are responsible for throughout the duration of the school year. They are able to bring their own phones, but they are still responsible for the phone given to them by the school.
Director of Community Life, Jim Sciuto, said, "I believe the new phone changes are advantageous to our residential students because firstly, it's a free domestic long distance service to them, and secondly, they won't need to be so dependent on cell phones, which don't have the greatest coverage on campus. More than anything, it's a nice convenience for our students to have."
While the Saint Mary's campus hosts a Sprint tower, all other service providers only work minimally. Kier believes that the new phone changes will be very useful due to this disadvantage. He said, "People are still going to use their cell phones but I think that if we can provide more reliable service, then it's a benefit."
All residents will now be able to call long distance-in addition to their previous allowance of free local calling-to anywhere in the United States from their dorm rooms inexpensively. International calls will still be subject to additional charges. The change is already effective at Saint Mary's College and Kier noted no foreseeable consequences to the new phone policy. He said, "It's a convenience," and only asks that "students take care of it [the provided telephones] and be responsible for it."
Previously, dorm phones were controlled by Resicom. Now the College is under new contract which allows students to make long distance calls from their rooms with only little increase to their residency tuition. Only residents are responsible for the tuition increase. Off-campus students will remain unaffected by the new phone changes.
Scott Kier, associate dean of student life & community life, said, "The Budget Committee decided to raise tuition by five percent; increase room percent to six percent." The extra one percent is what each resident pays for long distance calling. That would be about $60 a year and approximately $6 a month for doubles. "I just think it's a win-win," said Kier, "It's convenient, it's reliable, and it's free."
Each resident is provided with a dormitory phone that they are responsible for throughout the duration of the school year. They are able to bring their own phones, but they are still responsible for the phone given to them by the school.
Director of Community Life, Jim Sciuto, said, "I believe the new phone changes are advantageous to our residential students because firstly, it's a free domestic long distance service to them, and secondly, they won't need to be so dependent on cell phones, which don't have the greatest coverage on campus. More than anything, it's a nice convenience for our students to have."
While the Saint Mary's campus hosts a Sprint tower, all other service providers only work minimally. Kier believes that the new phone changes will be very useful due to this disadvantage. He said, "People are still going to use their cell phones but I think that if we can provide more reliable service, then it's a benefit."
All residents will now be able to call long distance-in addition to their previous allowance of free local calling-to anywhere in the United States from their dorm rooms inexpensively. International calls will still be subject to additional charges. The change is already effective at Saint Mary's College and Kier noted no foreseeable consequences to the new phone policy. He said, "It's a convenience," and only asks that "students take care of it [the provided telephones] and be responsible for it."
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