The A.S. Council has shown its support for a new piece of state legislation that would give University of California, California State University and California community college students direct input in affecting system-wide resident student fee increases.
On April 16, the Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of Assembly Bill 550, the Student Fee Affordability Act, which would require the UC Regents, the Trustees of the CSU and the community college system to gain approval from Student Fee Advisory Committees before enacting fee increases.
A.B. 550, which was introduced by Assemblyman Manny Diaz (D-San Jose) in February, would create an advisory committee within each state school governing body. Each 11-member advisory committee would be composed of six students, two faculty members, two members of the administration and a member of the Parent-Teacher Association. All positions would be appointed by the governor.
“”[A.B. 550] goes across every student in California,”” said A.S. Vice President External Stephen Klass. “”It mandates that those students have a say whenever fees are going to be raised.””
Klass, who also chairs the University of California Student Association Board of Directors, said that the bill would promote student involvement in the “”shared governance”” of the UC, CSU and community college systems. The A.S. resolution states that the UC currently “”operates under a shared governance between the Board of Regents and the Senate of Faculty with no equally representative body for the students.””
The UCSA, California State Student Association and the California Student Association of Community Colleges worked with Diaz in the drafting of A.B. 550.
The bill would also require the governing bodies to develop a “”methodology”” for adjusting student fees and provide the governor, Legislature and the California Postsecondary Educationary Committee with an annual report of its methodology’s impact on students.
“”[A.B. 550] mandates that all other options be exhausted before they look at student fees,”” Klass said. “”[It says] that student fee [increases] should be something that governing boards don’t want.””
A.B. 550 comes only months after substantial midterm fee hikes in the UC and CSU systems. In January, Gov. Gray Davis proposed additional student fee increases with his 2003-04 budget proposal.
The mid-year fee increases drew criticism from many students who felt they were not given enough prior notification of the increase. Many also felt they were not given a chance to provide input on the fee increase before it was enacted.
A.B. 550 sets a timeline for student fee changes that would require governing bodies to act upon proposed changes no later than Nov. 30 if they are to take effect the following academic year.
According to the bill, “”this advance notification will enable students and their families to better plan financially.””
“”[A.B. 550 would] eliminate student fees coming up as a solution to mid-year budget problems,”” Klass said.
The ASUCSD will send its resolution to Chancellor Robert C. Dynes, UC President Richard C. Atkinson, the UC Board of Regents, Gov. Gray Davis, Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante and two local legislature members, according to the resolution.
A.B. 550 will be addressed by the State Committee on Higher Education on April 22.
