Student services fees will increase only slightly next semester after administrators instructed the Student Services Fees Committee to keep the rate from increasing too much.
The committee released its final funding recommendations for student groups on Monday evening, which suggest dishing out nearly $1.9 million to student groups next school year — a sizeable deduction from what it initially recommended in February.
Under the proposed funding level for student groups and administrative units, the student services fee would increase from the current rate of $417 per semester to $430, not including the fees students pay to support campus governance organizations depending on their classification as an undergraduate, graduate or professional student.
In order to keep costs down for students, student groups committee chair Achintya Saurabh said the SSFC received directions from President Eric Kaler to limit expanding fees costs by a maximum of 3 percent.
The directive comes at a time when the University is seeking to extend a tuition freeze through negotiations at the state Capitol.
“We had to obviously make some adjustments to the initial recommendations we had,” he said, “but that doesn’t mean to say we didn’t look [at] every group close[ly].”
According to a letter sent to student group officers, the committee closely examined which programs and services are most central to the groups’ missions on campus when deciding their final recommendations.
“Unfortunately, we could only do so much,” Saurabh said.
Groups have the opportunity to appeal their recommendations. A separate committee will hear those petitions, Saurabh said.
“Given the current directive, it will be tough for groups to make adjustments, but there will always [be] a possibility,” he said.
