This week, the Fees Recommendation Committee met to discuss recommended changes to next year’s fees. The committee was formed by representatives from several groups and SUUSA Senate members.
The committee initially pushed through all fees that were preliminarily voted in favor 10-1.
Following, the committee addressed fees not passed unanimously. Firstly, the Counseling and Psychological Services’ (CAPS) $20 fee was discussed but passed through unanimously after the initial objection was dropped.
Secondly, the University Journal’s $5.50 fee was discussed, debating its merit to the entirety of the student population, then passed through the fee committee with a 9-1 vote.
Next, in an effort to separate the SUU Student Programming Board (SPB) and SUUSA’s funds, $13.75 were taken from SUUSA’s fee and placed into the Student Activity fee, formerly the Sharwan Smith Student Center Activity fee.
Two new fees were brought into the discussion: a tutoring center fee and a marching band fee. The tutoring center fee, while not initially given due to lack of information, passed through the committee in subsequent meetings.
The new tutoring center fee will raise the student fees by $3 per semester.
The committee declined the marching band fee request of $2 per semester due to a lack of information regarding the marching band’s budget and how the fee would be used. Because it is a new fee and not an existing fee, the marching band will not be allowed to make an argument for their fee.
Recommended changes to existing fees require the opportunity for the fee’s recipients to come and argue against the change.
Finally, the committee discussed the most polarizing fee amongst students: the athletic fee. The athletic fee is currently $103. The fee pays for student-athletes’ equipment, jerseys, travel and essentially all expenses outside of scholarships and salaries.
The committee made a proposal to drop the fee $10 to $93, but the fee passed 8-2 in favor of keeping the fee at its current amount.
This fee recommendation committee only makes a recommendation. It is the president’s cabinet’s job to decide the actual fees that will be in place next semester, so it is possible for these numbers to change.
The current fees can be found here, with the only changes to next year’s fees being the addition of the $3 per semester tutoring center fee and the shift of $13.75 from SUUSA to the Student Activity fee.
The committee will relay its recommendation in the coming weeks to the President’s Cabinet.
Story By
Andrew Leavitt
life@suunews.com
