John Marshall, vice president of student services, presented a possible student fee increase of 92 cents per credit hour in front of the Associated Student Government on April 4.
Students would pay an additional $27.60 next year if they enrolled in 30 credit hours.
The fee increase, according to Marshall, is a quick solution to the shortage of the money promised to organizations during the 2016-2017 biennial year.
Marshall explained that during the past year more students than estimated took online classes. Students enrolled in online classes do not pay fees for the on-campus activities, as most are assumed to be students not in residence in Grand Junction.
However, more on-campus and in-residence students are taking online classes simply as a means to balance their schedule. The discrepancy between the number of students expected to take online classes and the number that actually did result in a deficit.
If the board of trustees and administration do not increase student fees next year, ASG will be forced to cut the budgets from organizations, despite the fact that all organizations are expecting to use the same budget as this year for the coming year.
The fee increase is larger than past increases requested of ASG, according to Vice President Gabby Gile. Gile stated that last year ASG was approached for a six-cent increase.
However, Gile suggested a resolution in support of the increase to show the board of trustees that students were in favor of the increase.
After a unanimous straw poll vote, ASG decided to draft a joint resolution in favor of the increase. Senator Richard Nguyen volunteered to be one of the bill’s sponsors.
In other action:
ASG tabled resolution 17-06 until its final meeting, which condemned the Live and Let Live Act seen in the Colorado House and affirmed CMU’s commitment to an environment without discrimination for LGBTQ students. Senators believed the resolution should be revised to make a more general statement, rather than respond to one specific bill that failed in the Colorado House.
ASG passed one of three bills to amended their bylaws. A list of all major changes made to this guiding document can be found here.
