SAFAC, Senate battle over activity fees

Starting in early 1994, I worked for my first-ever newspaper, The Northern Student, the student newspaper at Bemidji State University, where I attended and received my bachelor's degree in mass communication. Over three years, I would be a staff writer, news editor, managing editor and editor. I wrote everything from news stories to feature stories to sports stories to opinion pieces. It was the greatest training ground a journalist could ever have, and I am grateful to the many talented people I worked alongside in my years at The NS.

Jan. 18, 1995

By Devlyn Brooks

News Editor

Facing probable budget shortfalls and decreased enrollment, SAFAC and Student Senate debate whether to raise the student activity fee cap.

Currently, BSU students enrolled for 10 credits or more are charged a maximum of $63.50 in student activity fees. Students enrolled for less only pay $6. 35 per credit. The Minnesota State University Board's student activity fee cap is $65. This is the cap SAFAC is proposing to increase.

During the Jan. 10 Student Senate meeting, Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee Chair Jeff Stinson presented a memo stating that "SAFAC unanimously approved a motion asking Student Senate to pass a motion supporting the raising of the (Minnesota) State University Board's cap on activity fees." The memo further states, "By approving a motion to move forward in this process, we are only leaving the option to raise fees open. At this time, SAFAC is not recommending or requesting a fee increase."

At its next meeting, Student Senate passed a bill stating that "the Student Senate highly supports the current MSUB cap of $65 per quarter on student activity fees." They rejected SAFAC's proposal because "education is already too high" and "(they) support keeping non-academic educational costs to a minimum."

Student activity fees, said Ken Brandt, director of Hobson Memorial Union and SAFAC advisor, contribute to activities like men's and women's athletics, the Hobson Union Programming Board, the BSU Concert Choir, the Department of Campus Recreation and Student Health Services, among others.

According to Student Senate President Paul Hetland, the other six state universities' fees are similar. Mankato State University is at $57.24, St. Cloud is between $55 and $65, and Winona State is at $64.83. Only Southwest State charges the maximum of $65.

SAFAC has stressed to Senate that they only want to advocate MSUB to raise the cap because preliminary numbers for the 1995-96 SAFAC budget show a shortfall of $90,000. SAFAC proposed a fee increase now so it is an available option in the spring, Stinson said. "At this point, it is too early to tell whether we will need to investigate that possibility or not; however, we do want to keep that options open," he said.

Hetland disagrees with SAFAC's proposal and said there are "bigger picture issues" involved. He is concerned that a student activity fee increase may be "the straw that breaks the camel's back." Next year, college students already face increased tuition due to the $150 million price tag attached to the upcoming merger, plus the additional $26 million needed to update technical college faculty wages to state standards. The Minnesota State University Student Association is also expected to raise their fees. Finally, students could suffer the effects of a $770 million shortfall in K-12 education funding, which will take funding away from higher education.

"All this leads to increased tuition for state university students. The high cost of education is slamming doors on some students right now," Hetland said, and student activity fees are a cost the Student Senate can control.

Stinson agreed that education is expensive, but said he feels students would rather pay a bigger fee than to see programs cut.

Hetland said, "(MSUB) placed a cap on the student activity fee to keep the collection of fees throughout the system down to an adequate level to fund activities, and to avert a temptation to raise fees unnecessarily so." He added, "There would be an absence of a cap if there was reason for (MSUB) to believe otherwise."

Hetland also opposes a student activity fee cap increase because it will affect the other six state universities. "If the cap were raised, the pace at the other campuses would more than likely quicken, thus inflating the price of education at those institutions," he said.

Stinson said he believes even if BSU doesn't advocate to raise the cap, one of the other universities might because they are also close to the cap. He also said, "Within the next two years we'll probably have to raise student (activity) fees."

Both sides agree there are other alternatives, such as lowering the number of credits at which the maximum student activity is applied, implementing user fees and raising existing ones, and cutting those activities which SAFAC deems expendable. However, Stinson wrote Senate in the Jan. 10 memo, "While the possibility of cutting programs exists, only so much can be cut until the program becomes much weaker."

So what happens next?

According to Stinson, SAFAC will submit their suggestion to Vice President for Administrative Affairs Tom Faecke. If approved, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Jon Blessing would take the proposal to other vice presidents at other universities for debate. Finally, the proposal would be presented to MSUB.

Faecke said he "(did) not have a recommendation at this time," but if Senate and SAFAC disagreed, he would "send it back to them to get a compromise."

Hetland said he doesn't feel a compromise can be worked out because the Senate doesn't want the cap raised, and they want to avoid the "temptation" to raise fees. Contrary to the Senate, SAFAC wants the option available to them in case of a shortfall in the 1995-96 budget.

Hetland is confident that if the proposal is ever presented to MSUB by any of the universities, the Minnesota State University Student Association Executive Board, made up of the seven university senate presidents, would advocate not to raise the cap. "In my opinion, (MSUB) will do whatever MSUSA says," said Hetland.

According to Hetland, Winona State and Southwest State student presidents have told him they would oppose raising the cap.

Regardless of the Senate vote against advocating a student activity fee increase, this debate is far from over. SAFAC will not know if it is necessary to propose a raise in fees until the final budget is completed in mid-April. But the sent a strong message to Senate in the Jan. 10 memo, which said, "We will look for all possible cuts and alternative means of funding programs before raising fees. However, we will not rule out the possibility of a fee increase at this time."