By Kitt Wolfenden

The Budget Review Committee (BRC) recently decided to raise the Student Activities Fee (SAF) for the 2009-10 school year from $109 per student per year to $116. The 6.5 percent increase is the maximum allowed, according to the SAF Manual, without a referendum, which would allow the student body to vote in a higher fee.

Last year the SAF was not raised because it was deemed unnecessary, and the year before it was not raised to make a statement to the university about students’ financial needs. But after high demands this past year which led to more spending, the BRC needs more funds, said Jennifer Hardy, Student Government Association (SGA) vice president for financial affairs and BRC chair.

The SAF is an annual fee that students pay to fund various programs put on by student groups. The BRC is a subcommittee of the SGA that allocates the funds to the student groups. It came under fire from student groups last semester for supposedly not funding a varied enough selection of programs. The BRC consequently made changes to its process.

Hardy recently wrote two memos about the decision to raise the SAF to university officials, saying the committee needed the raise to “accommodate increased programming and a decrease in rollover funds.”

SGA president Rob Ranley said he has observed the increased need for funding.

“We’ve seen an increase in programming,” he said. “This was the first time that there was more of a demand than funds available.”

BRC member Chae Reid said the BRC felt that with more student groups requesting money, they had to raise the fee.

“If we kept it the same we would have had more problems and controversy next year,” she said.

According to the BRC manual, the BRC can raise the SAF by the Consumer Price Index plus two percent annually, Hardy said. If they want to raise it higher, they have to have a referendum. A referendum has not been issued since 2003.

According to Hardy’s memos, the committee chose not to have a referendum and ask for a higher SAF increase because they believe that “stronger budgeting for the future year and cutbacks on frivolous and unnecessary spending will provide ample funding for programming.”

“We’re asking groups to prioritize so that, with what’s available, their program can be successful,” Hardy said. “If they request only what they need, we’ll be able to fund more programs.”

Hardy’s memos also cited “financial hard times” as a reason not to raise the SAF beyond 6.5 percent.

“We don’t want to burden students now with a raise that is too drastic,” she said.

Matthew Soleyn, Resident Student Association vice president for housing services, said he felt the raise was long overdue.

“For the last two years the requests have been higher than the funds available. The BRC has had to rely on rollover funds,” he said. “This increase was definitely needed.”

But Soleyn also suggested the committee consider changes to improve the quality of the programs they fund.

“The BRC should look at stipulating how programs are advertised,” he said. “If groups are going to use funding then they should commit to doing a certain level of promotion so the programs benefit more students.”

The BRC plans to make changes after issuing a survey to all undergraduate students. The survey will ask for student input on programming, budgets and the fee.

Kara Mustafa, a freshman history major, said she’s OK with a $7 increase.

“I don’t personally see a need to raise it, but I’m sure the BRC has a reason,” she said.

Rita Salazar, a senior chemical engineering major, agreed.

“It’s a small difference, and there are more students every year becoming active on campus, so groups need more funds to have activities.”