While the Price Center
expansion continues into Spring Quarter, the university may soon return as much
as $500,000 in student activity fees as a result of the project’s present
incompletion.

At the beginning of this quarter, all UCSD students paid $39
to fund the construction and maintenance of the upgraded facilities, which
include Price Center
and Student Center.
However, the Student Initiated University Centers Expansion and Renovation Fee Referendum,
passed in Spring Quarter 2003, mandated that the fee would not be collected
“until the facilities are completed and open to students.”

In response to this apparent discrepancy, Vice Chancellor of
Student Affairs Penny Rue announced last week that she would seek a refund in
the amount of $26.52 per student, the amount allocated toward Price
Center’s operations.

“We had hoped to be further along in our construction
process by now, but construction does not always go as planned,” she said.

Rue said the refund process requires approval from the UC
Office of the President and is ongoing.

The matter was initially brought to Rue’s attention by
Registration Fee Advisory Committee Chair Garo Bournoutian, who helped draft
the original referendum.

“I did remember seeing an e-mail for the grand opening
coming in April, and I knew the actual opening of the building and its
occupancy was late March,” Bournoutian said. “I knew it was coming up, but
realized it wasn’t the quarter initially planned, because it was initially
planned in the winter.”

The referendum originally split the cost into two sections:
a University Centers fee and a fee specific to Price
Center. The University Centers fee
was charged during Fall and Winter Quarters, which covered the operations and
maintenance of the Student Center
project, according to University Centers Advisory Board Chair Matthew Bright.

Bournoutian contacted Associate Vice Chancellor of Student
Affairs Edward Spriggs about the discrepancy, who agreed after a walkthrough that
Price Center
was not yet ready for student use. Spriggs then presented the issue to Rue.

According to University Centers Director Paul Terzino,
administrators chose to assess the fee during the middle of Fall Quarter, based
on information provided to them by the construction contrator. Rue said the
payment was collected before the start of the quarter in order to cover
necessary expansion-related expenses.

The activity fee reimbursements would add up to about
$500,000, Rue said, which she believes may adversely impact construction on a
temporary basis.

“It’s probably going to make it a little difficult to manage
the operating expenses in the short run,” she said.

If the reimbursement occurs, it will not affect the
construction schedule, Terzino said.

Bournoutian said the premature fee assessment highlights the
need for a student committee that manages and scrutinizes activity fees, many
of which take effect long after the students who passed the measures leave
UCSD.

“We need a concerned student group that can keep track of
more long-term fee issues,” he said. “It’s kind of difficult for most people to
look at fees on a historical basis. It’s hard to say, ‘This was written in 1986
with the following stipulations; are these stipulations being upheld?’”

Though there are many committees on campus that oversee the
implementation of student fees, such as UCAB and the Athletics, Recreation and
Sports Facilities Advisory Board, Bournoutian said they are often geared toward
more current or specialized topics.

“Having a group of students who are interested in
maintaining a continuity of information and accountability with regard to
UCSD’s various student-funded facility projects would be ideal,” he said.

To facilitate students’ knowledge of how much they are
paying and to whom, A.S. Biological Sciences Senator Emma Sandoe designed
handouts to distribute across campus that provide a detailed breakdown of all
of the fees charged by the university. Sandoe, who gathered the information for
an ongoing senator project, said she hopes this will increase billing
transparency and make students more active participants in the process.

However, Rue said that even without the assistance of RFAC,
administrators would have noticed and dealt with the reimbursement issue.

“We had a watchful eye on this,” she said. “We would have
come to the same decision.”

Rue said she hopes that the reimbursements will appear as a
credit on students’ Spring Quarter bills.

The new Price Center
is expected to open at the beginning of next quarter, and a grand-opening
celebration is scheduled for April 25, Terzino said.