Representatives from Carmichael Complex, Athletics and the Student Health Center presented their fee increase proposals at Monday’s Fee Review Committee meeting.
Lisa Zapata, associate vice chancellor for student affairs, said the gym fee supports Campus Recreation, club sports, fitness and wellness classes and workshops, intramural sports and special events, as well as the Carmichael Complex Facilities and Operations.
According to Zapata, 9,968 students used campus recreational services or programs in the 2006-2007 academic year. The current fee is $91.60, but the group is asking for a $23.15 increase.
Dawn Sanner, director of facilities and operations at Carmichael, said because the gym did not receive its full increase request last year, it had to cut back on hours, increase membership rates and rent out the pool to outside sources, among other things.
Sandy Jones, accounting specialist for Student Affairs, said $7.89 of the requested fee increase was requested to maintain the “living increase.”
“Our fees have not kept up with the rising costs,” Jones said.
Laura De Castro, a senior in political science and fee committee member, asked if the committee approved the full increase, would the membership rates still rise, to which Jones affirmed. According to Sanner, without the full increase, the only way to cut down costs is to not open the new recreation center, which she doesn’t see as a viable option. The other alternative is to cut additional programs.
According to Jones, even if the full increase is approved, Carmichael could potentially return the next year asking for more.
In addition to the gym fee increase, Athletics asked for a $17.50 increase in addition to its current operations fee of $126.50 and its debt service fee of $66.
Diane Moose, associate athletics director, said the University wants Athletics to have $2.5 million in its reserve and $1.5 million in capital, which it does not have.
She also said for every 550 fans at football games, there is one officer, and the overall cost for security is about $35,000 to $40,000 per game.
“With our current fee, N.C. State’s fee is $60 less than UNC-Chapel Hill’s, and with the new fee, we will still be $40 less,” she said.
Nate Myers, a freshman in mechanical engineering and fee committee member, asked if this increase would guarantee more basketball and football tickets.
Associate Athletics Director Dick Christy wasn’t too optimistic.
“Basketball is realistic to add in the near future, but demand doesn’t warrant it [for football],” he said.
Moose said even if Athletics’ full increase is approved, ticket prices will still go up at least three percent.
Student Health Director Jerry Barker gave the final two presentations on the Student Health Center fee increase request, as well as the Student Health Center addition fee increase request.
“We do have a very important public service role for the campus,” Barker said.
He said the the counseling center has seen a surge in students, including 24,000 visits to its psychiatrists this past year.
Barker said the main reason for requesting the increase is to keep employees’ and physicians’ salaries competitive.
“Our fee this year is the same as UNC-Chapel Hill’s from 1996,” he said.
Barker said the center is looking toward adding additional psychiatry hours and maintaining services that do not pay their own way, like the labs and X-rays.
“What we’ve asked for is what we need to pay the bills,” he said. “About 80 percent of our budget is personnel.”
In regards to the Health Center addition, Barker said the center is asking for $35, but the last debt service fee for the center was paid off early though he was not sure how many years early.
He said 10 years from now, when the University is looking to have 40,000 enrolled students, the addition will be necessary as the current center is already reaching its capacity.
