The John Muir College and Sixth College councils recently approved proposals to include student activity-fee increases on the A.S. Council’s general election ballot next quarter.
The Muir College Council’s referendum would increase the college’s quarterly student activity fee’shy; ‘mdash; which currently stands at $7 per quarter per student ‘mdash; by $3 in the 2009-10 academic year, with an additional $2 every five years over the next 10 years. The plan would cap the student activity fee at $14 per quarter per person.
MCC Chair Keaton Denlay said that in the past, annual events such as the Muirstock concert and Muir Musical received up to $3,500 each in funds from the A.S. Council, but that declining support forced MCC to propose the referendum.
‘A.S. has been gradually cutting funds that used to go toward Muir programming in the past few years, so [the fee increase] will go toward recuperating those funds, and for the expansion and betterment of Muir organizations and programming,’ Denlay said.
The fee increase would be subjected to the campus’ return-to-aid policy, under which 29 percent of funds collected through such increases go to financial-aid scholarships and incentives.
Muir College Dean of Student Affairs Patricia Mahaffey said MCC decided last year that the college’s activity fee must be raised to maintain the quality of future events, but that the council put the issue off until this year in order to concentrate on Muir’s 40th anniversary celebration.
‘When the A.S. [Council] cut funding to the [Muir] council, that resulted in the [Muir] council having to dip into their reserves and spend money that they don’t normally spend,’ Mahaffey said. ‘This money has been critical. The council needs to go back to Muir students and say ‘Can we raise the fees by a couple of dollars to provide the flexibility we need?’ I think the fee increase will provide much-needed revenue and funding for our big traditional events and organizations, and for subsidized tickets to events like semi-formal and other trips.’
The Sixth College referendum proposes to increase the quarterly student activity fee ‘mdash; currently at $8 per student ‘mdash; to $10, and promises not to propose any further fee hikes until at least fall 2012.
Sixth College Council Vice Chair of Internal Affairs Thach Tran said the fee increase was suggested by the finance’ committee last year to compensate for inflation, to avoid another budget crisis and to allow Sixth College to create annual events comparable to those put on by other colleges.
‘We need to improve and work on our programs and events to compete with other colleges ‘hellip; and create our own traditions,’ Tran said. ‘The fee increase will help us do that.’
If the increase is passed, Sixth College would have the highest activity fee of all six colleges, which the council attributes to the fact that Sixth has the fewest number of enrolled students.
Both referenda are currently awaiting approval by Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Penny Rue. If approved, the measures will be voted on during the second week of Spring Quarter via the A.S. Council’s general election ballot. In order to pass, both referenda must see a turnout of at least 15 percent of college-specific students and receive a majority of affirmative votes.
Readers can contact Yelena Akopian at [email protected].