Have you ever heard of the biennial process? Hmmm… I’m guessing not. The Associated Student Government (ASG) is in charge of a small portion of YOUR student fees. Yes, you heard that right – the $30.00 per credit hour you spend, about $6.47 your student government has control over. Seems like a small amount right? Let me put this in a larger picture – this amount equates to about $1.2-1.3 million dollars a year. Do I have your attention now? Perfect. Do you ever wonder why student fees raise?

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They raise partly because of this process. Every two years, each fee funded organization (such as the Criterion, CMU TV, Greek Life, MavRides, the Cultural Diversity Board, etc), has to come and present their proposed budgets. If you ever wanted to voice your opinion of how your fees are distributed, right now is the time. The ASG will strive, and wants the students to take part in this process. All biennial hearings are open to the public. They take place on Fridays at 4pm in the University Center. You can also come to public input during the ASG General Assembly meetings Wednesdays at 7pm in UC213. The graphic below shows how your student fees were distributed in the last biennial process. Want to see this distribution change? Well now is the time. It’s your money.

* Jeff Vela, Vice President of the Associated Student Government