President Mark Becker will not entertain the possibility of any new fee or fee increase this year, weakening the possibility to gain funding for the proposed Office of Sustainability.
At the Mandatory Fee Committee meeting held this past Friday Dr. Douglass Covey, vice president of student affairs, explained to the committee members that President Becker’s refusal to entertain the possibility of a new fee or fee increase would force the Student Activity Fee Committee to find other ways of funding any new programs or organizations, such as the Office of Sustainability.
As of press time, President Becker could not be reached for an official comment.
“I think that we didn’t raise any fees last year and feel that it’s in the best interest of students not to raise the mandatory fee this year,” Dr. Covey, said. “Given the economic times, there is a great deal of sensitivity to the cost of education.”
A new Mandatory Fee or an increase in the Student Activity Fee to fund an Office of Sustainability would cost students $3 more per semester, bringing the total Mandatory Fee to $663 or Student Activity Fee to $43.
At the SAFC meeting later on that Friday, the committee discussed how they would receive student feedback on a reallocation of Student Activity Fees.
The committee planned to hold open forums for students to attend and discuss and will release the dates later on this week. They also planned to send out a survey to students to get the overall student opinion on a new Office of Sustainability.
