Senate chambers were packed for an exhaustive debate over student fee increases on Wednesday, Oct. 2. With protestors, administrators and newly elected members present, Senators quarreled over fee increases to transit and student centers, and passed a resolution in opposition to a proposed last-minute security fee increase.
The meeting began with general comments about proposed fee increases. James Withrow, a Ph.D. student in biology and entomology and president of the Graduate Student Association, spoke about concerns graduate students on stipends face. While some graduate students that work for the university have tuition paid for, they are still burdened significantly by fees.
These concerns were echoed by a group of students that attended the meeting in protest of fee increases. Joshua Hummel, a third-year graduate student in sociology, read a prepared statement to the Senate chamber.
“Like other students in my department, I receive an annual stipend of around $16,000 annually for my work,” Hummle said. “This amount is well below the living wage for Raleigh, which using MIT’s wage calculator is estimated at $25,684 for a single adult. I have not experienced many hardships as a result of this deficit, but I know other graduate students that have.”
Another protestor, John Hedlund, a fourth-year graduate student in sociology, said that while the proposed fee increase might not seem like much, it’s a step in the wrong direction.
“At UNC, the graduate school recently decided to pay for all the graduate students’ fees,” Hedlund said. “So while UNC is making that declaration, we’re here going in the opposite direction. Fees are already unaffordable, and we’re talking about increasing them. We see that as a sign of bad faith and a step in the wrong direction.”
SR 45 – Transit Operations Fee Act – Passed after extensive debate
It was announced at the recent fee town hall that NCSU Transportation is facing increased expenses. The department is funded primarily through transit fees and parking permits, so to cover expenses, one or both must be increased. Transportation has requested an $11 fee increase for the 2020-2021 school year, and the resolution supports this.
Than Austin, director of NCSU Transportation, said at the meeting that if passed, the $11 increase would go entirely toward covering costs of the Wolfline bus system. Austin also spoke about services that were added recently.
“We’ve added the park and ride lot, the Spring Hill park and ride,” Austin said. “It’s free to use, we have a route to that. We’ve also heard requests for additional connections between main campus and Centennial Campus, so we’ve added additional service to five routes to provide better service. There are a variety of things going on; it is a complicated issue, but it is something that we feel like we have services to justify fee increases.”
College of Sciences Sen. Molly Vanhoy, a second-year studying microbiology, argued that it would be more fair to make all students pay a small amount rather than increase costs for a small portion of students.
“A parking pass increase would be more drastic, and would only affect a small number of students who would then be paying for the services that the whole student body enjoys,” Vanhoy said. “I do recognize that this is not ideal in any way, but I do ask that you think about the well-being of all students versus a small group of students.”
An amendment was proposed and eventually approved to reduce the recommended fee increase to $5.50 instead of $11; Senators proposed this knowing it would likely lead to an increase in parking pass costs. Those in favor of the amendment said that because employees also pay for parking passes, it would split costs more favorably.
College of Sciences Sen. Jacob Sebastian, a fifth-year studying political science, applied math and mechanical engineering, said while fee increases aren’t ideal, NCSU Transportation has shown clear improvements as justification for the increase.
“No, we don’t like fee increases, but of those that we do see, there is measurable service being provided on top of what we already have here with the Wolfline,” Sebastian said. “The additional coverage, the additional routes during busy times; there’s clear effort to improve the student transportation experience and to make campus more accessible to everyone.”
With 38 votes in support, nine against and zero abstentions, the resolution ultimately passed.
SR 46 – Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity Fee Act – Passed
In order to fund three new positions in Multicultural Student Affairs, the Women’s Center and the GLBT Center, the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity requests $6.35 in student fees, and the resolution recommends the full amount.
Senators overwhelmingly favored this fee increase. Vanhoy spoke about the value of student centers on campus.
“All the student centers on campus support our students in phenomenal ways and provide homes for people who typically struggle to find homes on campus,” Vanhoy said. “Not literal housing, but communities that they feel like they belong in.”
With 46 votes in support, one against and zero abstentions, the resolution passed.
SR 47 – Student Centers Fee Act – Passed
Campus Enterprises is requesting $8 to keep up with rising staff salaries and costs of event reservations, according to a presentation by Tim Hogan, operations director for University Student Centers, at the recent fee town hall. The resolution does not support a full $8 increase, but rather a $6 increase.
Hogan spoke at the meeting about challenges involving generating revenue outside of fees. Student Centers like Talley Student Union generate some revenue through room rentals, but that alone is not enough to keep up with rising costs.
“Since we have been expending our cash balance for three cycles in a row, right now our budget has us paying salaries and benefits out of our cash reserve, which is not a sustainable model,” Hogan said. “Specifically, in the last year, when the state of North Carolina mandated a $15 minimum wage for all state employees, that affected our department directly by about $100,000 a year.”
With 34 votes in support, seven against and two abstentions, the resolution passed.
SR 49 – Student Legal Services Fee Act – Unanimously Passed
This resolution takes aim at increasing costs of compensation, benefits and operating costs at Student Legal Services. A $1 increase has been proposed by SLS, and this resolution supports this increase in full.
Senators were largely in support of the increase. Vanhoy expressed support for the work SLS does, noting that the organization spends a significant portion of fee money purely on staff.
“They certainly deserve their fee increase,” Vanhoy said. “They’re also very frugal with their money; they haven’t asked for lots of dollars, and they also don’t ask for a fee increase every year.”
SR 50 – Student Publications/Media Fee Act – Unanimously Passed
Student Media* has requested a $1 decrease in student fees for the upcoming year; this resolution recommends this change.
SR 48 – Student Government Fee Act – Unanimously Passed
Wolfpack Pick Up, an initiative created by Student Government to offer transportation via golf cart to students with disabilities and injuries, currently receives funding through the Student Government student fee. However, the program actually runs through the Division of Academic and Student Affairs.
This resolution would reduce the Student Government fee by $1.30 while simultaneously increasing the DASA fee by $1.30. Graduate and Lifelong Education Sen. Chris Poteat, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in chemistry, said this change is effectively a transfer.
“It’s a $1.30 transfer from Student Government to DASA programming, student center programs,” Poteat said. “A brief history lesson: back in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, we requested $1.30 to fund Wolfpack Pick Up, and that is entirely controlled through DASA, but it’s on the Student Government budget. It’s kind of brought up some confusion each year we do the budget in the spring.”
SR 65 – Surprise Campus Security Fee Increase Act – Passed
This handles a last-minute fee increase recommendation to the Campus Security Fee, which has remained at $30 for several years. The Budget Office announced intentions to increase the fee for the first time during a meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 1. In total, $10.40 is requested to be dispersed to DASA, Environmental Health & Public Safety and the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity.
While Senators generally agreed that the programs this fee increase funds would have a positive impact, some, like Sebastian, spoke against the last-minute nature of this increase.
“I am disturbed by the process of this, just to dump it on us at the last second,” Sebastian said. “Like a previous senator said, someone mentioned that they could increase their fees, so they just decided to. It was not indicated to me that there was a plan to do beforehand.”
Due to the last-minute nature of this requested increase, the resolution recommends no increase to the Campus Security Fee.
With 40 votes in support, four against and two abstentions, the resolution passed.
SR 57– Tuition Increase Recommendation Act – Unanimously Passed
The tuition review process for the 2020-21 school year is currently underway. While the last two years have kept a 0% increase for in-state undergraduate students by UNC System mandate, this rule has been lifted for this year.
Each year, Student Senate makes recommendations on tuition increases, which are passed through the student body president, Student Senate president and Graduate Student Association president, all of whom sit on the Tuition Review Advisory Committee.
This resolution does not recommend an increased amount, but rather a cap on percent increases.
- 2% for in-state undergraduate students
- 2.5% for out-of-state undergraduate students
- 2% for in-state graduate students
- 3.5% for out-of-state graduate students
R 59 – Pack Votes 2019 Act – Unanimously Passed
This resolution is the Student Senate’s way of encouraging voting in ongoing municipal elections in Raleigh, Cary and the surrounding areas. While it does not enact policy, it provides information about elections and acts as the Senate’s way of establishing a formal stance on voting.
FB 60 – Sailing Club Funding Act – Unanimously Passed
NC State’s Sailing Club did not manage to apply for funding through the appropriations process earlier this semester and has applied for $2,000 through the Student Government finance committee. Other clubs that did make it through the appropriations process that requested around $2,000 received $549, so the same amount has been offered to Sailing Club through this finance bill.
FB 61 – Omega Psi Phi Funding Act – Unanimously Passed
Approximately $1,030 has been requested by Omega Psi Phi to fund their annual scholarship pageant. This bill provides $660 to the organization rather than the full amount.
*Editor’s note: Technician is a part of Student Media, and receives a portion of the Student Publications/Media fee money.
