Fees for part-time students may be substantially increasing as part of ASUW’s recommended mandatory student fee increases for fiscal year 2020, which was one of 7 pieces of legislation introduced at Tuesday’s meeting.
The proposed increase would come in the form of expanding Consolidated Student Services to include part-time students—along with a fee of $413.
CSS fees, which are currently charged only to full-time students, cover student resources such as Student Health Services and the Half-Acre Gym. Part-time students who wish to have access to Half-Acre have had the option to purchase a separate gym membership.
By full-time standards, the total student fee increase for FY 2020 would amount to 2.23 percent.
The other bills and resolutions include the creation and reorganization of several committees, altered RSO funding guidelines and other business that generally pertains to ASUW’s inner workings and keeping those running smoothly.
“It all had to be introduced for first reading yesterday so we could have all that go into effect before next semester,” Jones said.
All legislation can be viewed on ASUW’s website, and ASUW senators will be available for discussion and public feedback at this week’s listening session in the Union Senate Chambers this Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
In a nutshell, the proposed legislation will:
- Finalize ASUW’s recommendations for mandatory student fee increases and expansion of CSS fees to part-time students (SR-2642);
- Increase funding request limits for RSO conference registration fees and allow RSOs to apply for academic competition funding (SB-2640);
- Revise expectations for ASUW senator outreach and engagement (SB-2639);
- Create an ASUW Homecoming Committee to better focus on the demands of homecoming week event preparations (SB-2638);
- Allocate $34,831.81 to one-time projects “that will benefit a large population of students,” such as the installation of new bike racks and water fountains (SB-2641);
- Extend parliamentary rights to ASUW executives, allowing them to actively participate in, and contribute to, debates in ASUW sessions (SB-2643);
- Expand ex-officio membership guidelines for increased and more accurate representation of the student body (SB-2644);
In a rare address from the gallery, Faculty Senate Chair Donal O’Toole shared an update of concerns held by Faculty Senate, including: “troubling statistics” found by sexual assault surveys connected to the No More Campaign; the proposal to close the Geography Department and the short timeframe to respond to it; the controversial closing of the Biodiversity Institute; the growing but not fully welcome trend of ‘professors of practice’ on campus; and an upcoming Dec. 7 meeting to discuss survey findings indicating low morale, satisfaction and confidence among staff and faculty.
Rounding out the agenda was a presentation from Pilar Flores, director of Student Educational Opportunity (SEO) keeping senators aware and informed of SEO’s mission and programs, on and off UW’s campus. SEO is a department within Academic Affairs that focuses on helping “socio-economically disadvantaged” students prepare for, and succeed in, higher education—starting as early as elementary school.
