Tonight, Student Government Association will be voting to determine if student fees will increase by 98 cents per credit hour to fund the Center for Student Involvement.
The money generated from the students will be used to support programming, events and resources that are open to students, including graphic designers, diversity affairs programming and FHSU After Dark.
Today, Student Government Association will vote to increase student fees $.98 per credit hour or send the increase to a student vote. The money generated from the increase will go towards the Center for Student Involvement who controls many programs and activities on campus, but is in risk of being diminished.
CSI approached SGA last weekend about proposing the fee increase.
“It was one of the more well-put-together requests I’ve seen in three years, and I think the committee has decided that they are very deserving of the increase,” said junior Andrew Dempewolf, Legislative Affairs director. “LPAC doesn’t usually recommend anything over $50, and 98 cents is quite a big increase. … It’s going in for a good purpose.”
CSI is funded through the Memorial Union, and it has hit nearly an $80,000 deficit. The fee increase will help CSI run from its own funding as well as return money the Memorial Union can use for maintenance to the building and also to Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center.
“I think this helps students even more because the Union will have that money not only to update the Union even more, but more staff positions will open up, and the Union may be open longer. We’ll just have to see,” said senior Jill Moeder, chair of the Legislative and Political Action committee, who proposed the increase.
In the write-up to SGA, CSI states that without the increase, funding for several qcrucial areas of the office will no longer be available, including diversity programming, access to poster routes or other signage. Additionally, students will not get to enjoy Finals Feeding Frenzy, and there will be cuts to the following positions: graduate assistants, student assistants and Diversity Affairs student ambassadors.
SGA estimates that the revenue created by the fee increase can provide nearly $100,000. One student who’s taking 15 credit hours will pay nine extra dollars in fees, a small price to pay for all the programming provided by CSI.
“It also allows for CSI to offer more programming to students and broaden their resources for students and just really be there a lot more than they are able to at their current funding levels. And we strongly supported that,” Thompson said.
If amended, any senator can send the vote out of the Black and Gold room and into the hands of the students for their vote. The SGA policy states that anything over $1 is automatically sent to a student vote. The newest fee increase misses that by a two-cent margin.
Students are encouraged to speak their minds about the increase to fellow student senators. To witness the vote in action, SGA meetings begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Black and Gold room of the Memorial Union.
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