Student Activity Fee increase of $140 passes
By Sule Akbaba
The Student Union’s proposal to raise the Student Activity Fee has been approved by the University’s board of directors, meaning fees will increase by $140 to a total of $540 in the 2019–2020 academic year.
Jacob Schupp ’19, president of the Student Union, said they do not have many details about how the process of approval went, but that it took place last week.
Vice President of Business Affairs Cory Beam ’20 had slightly more insight on the process. “[The board of directors] did their due diligence in gathering more information about the fee increase,” said Beam.
In the last 10 years, there has not been a rise in the Student Activity Fee. Schupp said the fee increase will help the Student Union, other student organizations and departments around campus have more funding for programs and activities. The fee increase is expected to improve and support student activities.
“For us to keep up with increasing prices and more groups around campus looking for money sources, it was important for this fee to be increased,” Schupp said. Student Union has not voted on how to allocate the money, mainly because they have not started the Student Activity Fee allocation process. In order to get some of the fees, different student groups and organizations have to submit allocation requests. A review board goes through the requests and decides how to divide up the money.
The Student Activity Fee also enables Student Union to make better adjustments and plan more effectively. “Another large aspect of the Student Activity Fee process is knowing how many students will be here. So, as more deposits come in for students to attend, we will have a better idea as to how much money we are working with,” said Schupp. He added that some organizations that get a big portion of the fee, like SUPB, will likely see an increase. However, nothing is certain until the allocation process starts.
According to Schupp, the bill was approved because the board of directors saw the need for the fee increase as well as the enjoyment students experienced from the different activities and programs planned.
Student Union believes that it is important for John Carroll students to know where their money is going to be spent. “We are also going to make sure the process for allocating these funds is transparent, and Dr. McCarthy [the vice president for student affairs] shares our concern in making sure students know what their activity fee money is being spent on,” said Beam. Beam hopes that this will “make the campus environment better for students.”
The next step for Student Union is to revise the fee allocation process in order to settle how things will work for departments and student organizations. The program review is a fundamental step in this process, according to Schupp. “Unfortunately, during my time on Student Union — I’ve been a senator since my freshman year — we have not had a program review for most of the processes that we oversee, so it was time to do so,” said Schupp.
The increase will also enable Student Union to make changes and improvements around the campus. “We have big plans for programming and proposing some capital improvements to buildings around campus. With this fee increase, it can also allow us to constantly make improvements and keep up as the student [body’s] needs change,” Schupp said.
The Student Activity Fee increase is not the only proposal that Student Union has been planning. According to Beam, there is going to be another proposal introduced in November. “The November proposal is seeking to recommend changes to current student spaces to make them better and improve the quality of campus life,” said Beam. Different departments and student groups are working together on the new proposal.
Beam added, “While I am not in a position to comment specifically on the funding sources for the changes we will be suggesting, I can say the majority of the funding for the improvements would not come from the activity fee.”
Beam said there will be more details on the new proposal in coming weeks, since they are still in the beginning stage of the proposal.
Beam emphasized that this is a process students can be heavily involved in. “I do want to highlight, it is critical that as many students as possible fill out the survey they received from Student Union, as this data will be a determinant in how we prioritize various projects within the proposal,” Beam said.
