By Sarah Metcalf and Steve Babcock
The Student Government Association has chosen not to pass tuition legislation this year, despite last year’s legislation that contributed to the lowest increase in a decade.
Due to time restraints, members of the SGA executive board chose to verbally present the students’ position on the tuition increase to the Committee on Funding Priorities (CFP), the administrators and student leaders who draw up each year’s budget proposal.
“We got 600 responses to a survey in the fall as to what students would like to see in this year’s budget,” said SGA President Bill Durkin. “Instead of passing legislation, we got a good idea of what students wanted in this year’s budget from that survey.”
Despite SGA’s presentation, a university official said the expected tuition increase would be between 5 and 7 percent though the university continuously works hard to keep tuition as low as possible.
In a memo to President Richard Freeland, obtained by The News, the SGA representatives on the CFP outlined their priorities for this year’s budget.
They argued for the full funding of a plan that will bolster the university’s faculty and increase financial aid, all with the lowest tuition increase possible.
“We feel the CFP did not appreciate the impact of tuition increases on students,” the memo stated. “When graduating, students should be looking forward to graduate school and placing a down payment on their first home, not worrying about mounting student loans.”
Some in SGA, though, are concerned about the amount of input they were given in the process. Sen. Chad Cooper said he was “uneasy” about the lack of communication between the executive board and the rest of the student body.
“[We didn’t pass legislation] because the senate was kept out of the loop. The senate is very uneasy about this, and we’re very concerned that we let down the student body to some extent,” Cooper said. “We expressed our concerns to Vice President [for Financial Affairs Ali] Barlow and have taken her word that the CFP said the [tuition] increase isn’t going to be high, that it’s going to be on par with last year.”
Last year, the senate passed legislation demanding the tuition increase be no higher than $256 per semester, or a 2 percent increase, on a recommendation from the student-run University Budget Committee.
Last year, former SGA Vice President for Financial Affairs Michael Benson said the 2 percent demand was what produced the low tuition increase, which landed at 4.5 percent. He deemed this a victory for students.
“If we hadn’t presented the numbers in the way that we did, I don’t know if the result would have been the same,” Benson said. “The budget process is a numbers game. Plain and simple, if you don’t negotiate numbers, you’re going to get burned.”
Last year, SGA sent members of the executive board to negotiate the budget with the CFP after receiving the University Budget Committee’s recommendation.
This year, the picture was very different. With CFP opening negotiations in September, Barlow said there was no time to hold University Budget Committee meetings where they could identify budget provisions that would best serve student interests.
In addition to not passing legislation, Durkin, Barlow and Vice President for Student Affairs Erin McFazden said they did not agree on a desired tuition increase from which to negotiate.
“I think it wastes a lot of time to have a heart set on a number,” McFazden said. “Our points are more well taken when we acknowledge that we understand all the different parts of the budget.”
With the classified budget set to be unveiled Feb. 16 and CFP negotiations completed, all SGA can do now is wait.
In last year’s budget presentation, the administration said the tuition increase would only rise from 4.5 percent if any major new costs happened over the next five years. With new residence halls having to be built on campus as part of an agreement with the city, the outcome remains unpredictable.
Cooper said if the tuition increase was any higher than last year’s 4.5 percent, it would be “not manageable at this point” for many students.
“If the tuition increase comes out and it’s more than 5 percent we would have let the student body down,” he said.
