Changes to HSU fee hike discussed
Times-Standard 4/11/07
The $202 instructionally related activities fee increase per semester, proposed by HSU President Rollin Richmond in early March, was met with much criticism in recent weeks, especially after Richmond chose not to put the matter before students in the form of a vote.
Rob Christensen, HSU Associated Students administrative vice president, said there have been talks of the fee sunsetting in four years, after which students would vote whether to continue paying $250 per semester.
The instructionally related activities fee, which is currently $48 per semester, would jump to $250 per semester under a proposed budget plan. If Richmond approves the hike, the increased dollars would free $3 million from athletics, which would be distributed to other areas on campus. Doing so would significantly cut the total amount the university is looking to shave from its 2007-2008 budget -- $4.8 million to $6 million.
The student governing board will also stick a series of optional questions related to the fee on its spring ballot, said Tyler Smith, Associated Students representative from the College of Natural Resources and Sciences.
”We think it's important that students have a say in this,” Christensen said.
Vote results wouldn't be binding, however, as Richmond and California State University Chancellor Charles Reed have the final say.
Richmond is also looking at other price indexes to tie the fee to, Christensen said, instead of the Higher Education Price Index -- an inflation index designed for higher education.
”He's promised all along that he would consult with students fully up until the time he reaches his decision,” said HSU spokesman Paul Mann.
Smith said students' problem isn't with the fee itself, it's the process it was presented that he and others are uneasy about.
”Personally, I feel if the president had come to A.S. and presented this in a transparent and open manner, I think it would have passed, I think students would have voted for it,” he said.
Richmond will announce his final budget decisions in the next two weeks, Mann said, with a tentative target date of April 20.
Smith said though these preliminary discussions by no way put any changes into place, it's a step toward communicating.
”It was looked at as a first step in a process of compromising or trying to get the president to see what our vision of shared governance is,” he said.