After student Arianna Tamvacakis and others took the initiative to get mandatory fees lowered for graduate students, the Graduate Student Fees subcommittee is proposing packages to lower fees.
Tamvacakis said that because many graduate students juggle teaching classes, working on research projects and taking classes of their own to obtain their degrees, any minor changes in mandatory fees that would save them money would be seen as encouragement from the University.
Vincent Rehder, member of the Graduate Student Fees Subcommittee in the University Senate, said that while stipends have remained the same, fees have gone up and graduate students have had to work part time to supplement funds.
Universities such as Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia (UGA) have mandatory fees similar to Georgia State—around $1,200. However, they are composed differently, according to Rehder. For example, Georgia Tech’s athletics fee is about $59 dollars while Georgia State’s is about $258 dollars. If certain fees such as activities, health and facilities are removed or reduced for graduate students who don’t use the programs or facilities, they would save money.
Rehder proposed a package fee waiver similar to the one UGA provides. Graduate students get certain fees waived from their mandatory fees once they near the end of their career and are working on dissertations, research and internships. This affects roughly 4.5 percent of students working to obtain a masters degree and 16.8 percent of students working to obtain a PhD.
Rehder said the committee should consider implementing a similar waiver in order to increase Georgia State’s competitiveness with other universities in graduate school enrollment. According to Rehder, if it is cheaper to get a masters or PhD at Georgia State, more students will apply, bringing the University up to par in comparison with other schools.
Lesley Reid, a professor and director of graduate studies in the sociology department, said the money students would save from the package waiver was a small sum.
However, Tamvacakis said the goal is less about making huge cuts in mandatory fees and more about boosting student morale. She said saving graduate students any amount of money would make them happy, and happy students would work harder and give more to the University.
Rehder said that while working with the graduate students, he found they were not looking for major changes. One aspect they sought help in was parking. While professors can go in and out of the parking decks during the day, graduate students who also teach classes are currently limited and must pay to park each time they enter a parking deck.
“Even small help goes a long way,” Rehder said.
Rehder also suggested the implementation of a graduate student association at par with the Student Government Association (SGA). He said because undergraduate students make up the majority of SGA, graduate student voices often go unheard. A graduate student association would give these students the ability to voice their concerns.
Tamvacakis and her peers have been working on getting mandatory student fees lowered for graduate students for the past two years.
“I’m happy that the senate budget committee is moving forward with this,” she said.
