Students might be opening their wallets a little wider next year to support the Student Association.
SA President Lamar Thorpe proposed a $1 per credit-hour increase in the SA student fee during his State of the SA address Tuesday night at Mount Vernon.
The new student fee would apply to all new incoming undergraduate students and transfer students, said Thorpe, a senior.
The student fee increase would bring an additional $60,000 in funds to the SA which would be used specifically for the allocations to over 200 student organizations, Thorpe said. Students pay $1 per credit hour, up to a $15 fee per semester for students. The proposed increase would double the fee charged to students.
Thorpe said increased revenues are needed to support student organizations.
“The current SA fee was created to support a commuter school, which we no longer are,” said Thorpe during the address. “We have seen that the University is willing to make cut backs on campus life and we must construct proactive initiatives to protect our community.”
The student fee this year provided the SA with $465,000 to allocate to over 200 student organizations for the entire academic year, said SA Senator Andrew Salzman (GSEHD), chair of the SA Finance Committee
Student organizations submitted over $2 million in requests to the finance committee during the fall semester, said Salzman, a graduate student.
“Events are expensive, the number of organizations has increased, and the sources of alternate funding have decreased for student organizations,” Salzman said. “If students truly want the financial resources to be available to them, these resources need to originate from somewhere.”
An increase in the SA student fee is not a new idea. Former SA presidents including SA Senator Omar Woodard (CCAS-G), a graduate student, and Audai Shakour, last year’s president, called for an increase in the student fee. These proposed increases were not approved by the SA Senate. Thorpe is proposing that students vote on the fee increase during this year’s elections on Feb. 21 and 22.
