New ASUW legislation, Senate Resolution No. 2577, was passed Oct. 31, allowing for programmatic fees to be placed for Fall 2019. ASUW has been working on this new legislation since last Spring when a proposal for new programmatic fees was released.
“So, the program fee legislation that we passed was 177 pages. We’re pretty sure it’s a record,” ASUW President Ben Wetzel said.
With an estimated $3.4 million in revenue, $1.9 million in fees already existing and another $1.2 million in new fees to support individual departments and operating budgets, Wetzel said.
“I believe it was Senate Resolution No. 2521 kind of made a statement about the fact that we were pretty upset that this kind of thing was happening that would have such an impact, yeah 2521, that would have such an impact on students that no one had been brought in for,” Wetzel said. “No one had been consulted about. No one was a part of this process.”
The programmatic fees are meant to cover the expenses of a class as they are based off a college code, Wetzel said. Fees paid to that course will help the specific class, and students will only pay for classes in which they are enrolled.
“So, you are paying for what you use. It’s much more of a user-friendly model. If you’re the English major who aside from your laptop and a pencil, doesn’t need anything other than a chair to sit in why should you pay for advanced oil recovery labs in petroleum engineering,” Wetzel, explaining Senate Resolution No. 2577, said.
Wetzel explained that this Senate Resolution is meant to be a ‘fee wrap up.’ Wetzel demonstrated how all student fees will be reduced to one page, with a few exceptions. Students will be able to look up their classes and know exactly what they are paying.
This will allow for avoidance of ‘ghost fees,’ which are fees required by a class but are never recorded, such as money spent to attend a field trip.
Students will be able to know exactly what they will be paying and will be able to budget exactly what they will need to pay.
“First of all, you can figure out exactly how much it will cost you to go to school. Second thing is that because it can be identified it can also be included in your student aid package,” Associate Professor of economics Godby said.
Across the boards all students will pay a $6 advising fee, which will work to a new advising system.
