$464.84. What is that? The cost of a Playstation 4? A ski pass? A month’s rent for a shared bedroom at blue square?
It could be. Or it could be money that you put toward paying off your student loans or your fiancé’s engagement ring.
Nope, Instead it’s money that you pay to Utah State University every semester for student fees. $464.84.
The average student at Utah State will end up paying $4,183.56 over the course of their college career, that’s money on top of tuition.
The purpose of the “For the Students” articles is to inform students of issues that they may not be aware of, to help students care about what is important. My goal in writing this isn’t to take back our $464.84. Instead, I would like students to be aware that they are paying that money and also where it is being spent. Student fee money pays for a lot of necessary things on campus: our activities, Aggie Shuttle, the buildings we meet in, free wifi on campus. Heck, even Aggie Radio is funded by student fees. Student fees are a necessary evil. No one wants to pay more money for college, but if doing so means that we get free wifi, busses and a place to have class, I’m all for it. No, I have nothing against fees, nor should any student, but that doesn’t mean that we should unconditionally accept every single fee either.
By far, the most inflated and mismanaged fee is the Athletics fee. Every student pays $135.00 each semester that goes directly to the Athletics Department. This fee pays for scholarships, coaches salaries and work-out facilities that only student athletes can use. It is the largest fee by more than $45.00 and it has increased faster than any other fee at Utah State. In 2009, the athletics fee had the biggest fee increase in the history of USU, and since then, has had two more increases. I could go on and on about the Athletic fee, and I will, in next week’s article, but for now I only mention it because it’s proof that students need to be aware of where their money is going.
In an attempt to find out how student fees function, I sat down with Matt Ditto, the Executive Vice President of USUSA. Matt was elected last year in a student election and supervises the Student Fee Board which reviews proposals for student fee increases. He agreed with me in saying that students need to be more aware of where their money is going.
“I wish more students cared. They always care during registration time, and they say ‘why am I paying all these fees?’ They don’t care come January when we are meeting.” It’s true, not enough students are aware of student fees until they have to pay them. There are several reasons for that, and not all of them are apathy on the students’ part. Part of students’ lack of awareness is due to the fact that there is a huge lack of transparency on the Student Fee Board.
Let’s look at the process for how a fee increase works. First of all, the organization proposing a fee sits in a committee that determines whether or not a fee increase is needed. If they decide that a fee is needed, they make a proposal to the Student Fee Board. The Student Fee Board is comprised of 17 students; 10 members of the Executive Council, 6 undergraduate students (who are appointed by USUSA officers), and 1 graduate student. These 17 people determine if the proposed fee increase fulfills the original purpose of the fee. They vote, and if the fee receives a majority vote, make a recommendation to the university president endorsing the proposal. The president of the university has the final say whether or not the fee increase is goes into effect.
If a fee increase is over $30.00, or it is a newly proposed fee (like Aggie Blue Bikes or Blue Goes Green in recent years), then the student body as a whole must approve the fee in a general election.
That’s all fine, and as Matt Ditto says, “It’s the best process out of the surrounding schools and those in the state.” Utah State is one of the only schools that involves students in the decision to increase their fees. The University of Utah’s process was so bad that the State of Utah did an audit of their process. We can be thankful we aren’t them, but even with the student involvement that we have, I’m not satisfied.
First of all, there is the issue of transparency. The Fee Board meetings are closed meetings, meaning only members of the board and those proposing fees can attend. That means that those who are opposed to specific increases can’t even speak their mind in the meetings. It’s understandable why they might be closed. Ditto says, “it might be a a rush to arms otherwise,” but that’s probably not a good enough reason to deny students access to the meetings in which their fees are proposed.
I received a copy of the Student Fee Board charter, and not once in the official charter does it say that the meetings will be closed. In fact, it states the exact opposite, “The purpose of the USFB is to provide students with direct input into the decision regarding the disposition of the student fees. . . Budget information regarding the disposition of student fee should be easily available for public review.”
So why aren’t students allowed into meetings in which the main purpose is to “provide students with direct input” into the decision of fee increases?
These “closed” meetings have caused a lot of concerns about transparency on the Student Fee Board. In fact, there have been five instances in which proposals were adopted to increase transparency (Here, here, here, here, and here), but as far as I have been able to tell, none of these resolutions are currently being practiced, even though they passed and were supposedly adopted.
Another issue within the Fee Board is representation. The board is comprised of 17 students, 10 of which are members of the Executive Council who receive scholarships for their service and 7 others whose only qualifications are that they are appointed by the members of the Executive Council. These students are the only ones that are able to deliberate, debate, or question any proposed fee. Now, I’m sure they are all great people, and have the best interest of the students in mind, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that these 17 people, behind closed doors are making decisions for 16,000. What makes me even more nervous is that these students are the same students proposing that there be more transparency on the fee board.
Like I said, I see fees as a necessary evil, but that doesn’t mean that we necessarily have to shut the door to students who could provide feedback. Students are the ones paying the fees, they should be the ones deciding if paying the fee is worth it.
