Senate passes fee increase
Kari Thompson
Issue date: 10/29/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
At their Tuesday, Oct. 19 meeting, Student Senate unanimously voted to raise the Student Activity Fee for the 2005-2006 academic year by $100, making the total fee $300.
The Student Activity Fee (SAF) is included in the fall billing statement each year, but this money does not go to the college. Each spring, the Finance subcommittee of the Senate receives budget requests from interested student organizations and allocates the SAF for the upcoming school year to these groups.
After being able to grant only half of the budget requests this year, Senate decided to make increasing the SAF a top priority so that more organizations could get the funds they desired for activities, speakers and events on campus.
But the desire to increase the SAF is not a new one. This ongoing battle has been waged since "at least 1999," said Senate President, Junior Amy Hillard, at a town hall meeting on Tuesday night. More recently, in the spring of 2003, over 60% of the student body voted to increase the SAF by $75. Only $10 of that increase was implemented by the Board of Trustees, who approves College tuition and fees.
The additional money will be used in a variety of ways. Senate hopes to give larger organizations like Social Committee and Multicultural Development Committee more money to put on big events that will attract the whole campus. However they also intend to fund more events by smaller, more specialized campus organizations such as Environmental Concerns Committee, Volunteer Action Center, and the Psychology Club.
When the idea of the increase was reintroduced this year, many students were hesitant at the need for them to pay additional money, especially among sophomores and freshers who will pay the bulk of this increase.
Donald Turner, Sophomore Senator, received several emails from his constituents, including this one:
"I am against raising the activity fee. I cannot afford such an expense and...I would rather spend my time studying to get the education I paid for than be expected to go to what is being put on or be involved in all the activities."
The Student Activity Fee (SAF) is included in the fall billing statement each year, but this money does not go to the college. Each spring, the Finance subcommittee of the Senate receives budget requests from interested student organizations and allocates the SAF for the upcoming school year to these groups.
After being able to grant only half of the budget requests this year, Senate decided to make increasing the SAF a top priority so that more organizations could get the funds they desired for activities, speakers and events on campus.
But the desire to increase the SAF is not a new one. This ongoing battle has been waged since "at least 1999," said Senate President, Junior Amy Hillard, at a town hall meeting on Tuesday night. More recently, in the spring of 2003, over 60% of the student body voted to increase the SAF by $75. Only $10 of that increase was implemented by the Board of Trustees, who approves College tuition and fees.
The additional money will be used in a variety of ways. Senate hopes to give larger organizations like Social Committee and Multicultural Development Committee more money to put on big events that will attract the whole campus. However they also intend to fund more events by smaller, more specialized campus organizations such as Environmental Concerns Committee, Volunteer Action Center, and the Psychology Club.
When the idea of the increase was reintroduced this year, many students were hesitant at the need for them to pay additional money, especially among sophomores and freshers who will pay the bulk of this increase.
Donald Turner, Sophomore Senator, received several emails from his constituents, including this one:
"I am against raising the activity fee. I cannot afford such an expense and...I would rather spend my time studying to get the education I paid for than be expected to go to what is being put on or be involved in all the activities."