The Board of Governors’ denial of new fees will affect study abroad scholarships, Homecoming and sustainability, according to Student Body President Bobby Mills.
Ingrid Schmidt, director of the Study Abroad Office, said although she respects the BOG’s decision to limit the new fees, it was disappointing for the Study Abroad Office.
She said that last year the BOG voted down the Study Abroad Office’s fee proposal, and now this year, the fee proposal isn’t going to happen because of the regulation.
“We are hoping to resubmit next year,” she said.
The new fee would have tacked on $3 per semester to student fees and been used to create more international scholarships, according to Schmidt.
Schmidt said since students who study abroad come back and share their experiences with other students, the entire campus would benefit.
“There would be a requirement for students who receive the scholarships to document what they did so when they got back, [they could] share their experiences with the students,” she said.
Schmidt said while there will definitely be fewer scholarships without the new fee, the Study Abroad Office plans to ask alumni who studied internationally to contribute to the scholarship fund as well as various colleges and departments on campus.
Adam Compton, who has been working on Homecoming with the Alumni Association and student ambassador program, said this is the first year the Homecoming committee has requested a fee. He said sponsors usually pay for the spirit week.
Compton said a new homecoming fee would have given the Homecoming committee, in conjunction with the Alumni Association, a base of money that was guaranteed each year.
“It was going to alleviate some of the burdens on University departments and student revenue-based organizations,” he said.
The proposed homecoming fee was for $6 per year, according to Compton.
He said with the new fee, Homecoming would have been able to expand its activities more as well as paying for the PackHowl concert and pep rally, so those events would be free to all students.
Compton said regardless of the fee, Homecoming will become bigger each year. He said the lack of a new fee just determines the pace at which the week will be able to develop.
“It just won’t be able to expand as much as we would like it to,” he said.
Compton said he speculates the BOG decided to deny new fees to help reduce the overall price of college.
“[They are trying to] keep it down to the bare necessities that your university really needs,” he said.
Bobby Mills, a member of the energy council, said he wanted a new sustainability fee that is now not being passed. He said the fee would have helped pay for new environmentally friendly projects such as LED lights, solar panels and weatherization of windows.
He said now that there is no new fee, the projects’ cost will fall on the administration.
“[We’ll just have to] shift student cost to administration cost,” he said. “That’s exactly what I wanted in the long run anyway.”
According to Mills, Harvard University originally made students pay for their sustainability projects, but eventually switched the cost to the administration when the administration realized how self-financing the projects were.
Mills said even though the final goal was to move the cost over to the administration, he still went through student fees to show the administration how important the project is.
“I believe that sometimes for them to realize something, students have to show a commitment,” he said. “If students are able to show that commitment and get the ball rolling, [administration will follow].”
