Student fees to be discussed Friday

ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU

Proposed increases to student Health, Athletic, and Activity and Service fees will be finalized Friday at the last meeting of the Local Fee Committee.

The Local Fee Committee will meet at 8:30 a.m. Friday in MSC 2702. The meeting is open to the public.

Following a straw poll taken during a Student Government (SG) Senate meeting Tuesday night, a proposed 62-cent increase in the Athletic fee for student-athlete scholarships is set to be the biggest point of discussion at Friday’s meeting. 

“I think (the straw poll) is representative of the student body and how they feel overall,” said Corey Ulloa, an SG senator and member of the Local Fee Committee. “It’ll essentially help the committee look at how to fund the proposal or how to partially fund it.”

Tuesday’s straw poll revealed that senators were split on the issue of whether or not to fund the proposed increase, with 18 senators voting to deny the request outright and 29 senators voting to give some sort of partial funding. 

A student body poll conducted by the University, Community and Government Affairs Committee on Wednesday, showed a similar split among students.

Out of 500 students polled, 58 percent said they were against an increase in the Athletic fee to fund student-athlete scholarships while 33 percent said they would support it. Another 8 percent
were uncategorized. 

According to SG Senator Brandon Hartmann, the additional 8 percent either felt very strongly against the proposal or would only support funding student-athlete scholarships with particular reservations.

“A number of students said they wanted to know where exactly the scholarships were going or who they would be going to before they were willing to answer the question,” Hartmann said.

Student body president Jean Cocco said he believes the 8 percent who didn’t fit into the “Yes” or “No” categories is indicative of mixed emotions of students regarding the issue.

After the committee finalizes the increases Friday, the proposal will go before USF President Judy Genshaft and the USF Board of Trustees for approval.