$1 Student Fee Increase to Fund ASG Approved

The bill passed unanimously with the provision that ASG President Andrew Payne and Jeff Davies, UNC-system vice president for finance, examine the structure of the proposed professional staff to ensure students remain in control.

The ASG fee is the first systemwide student fee increase approved by the BOG.

The ASG's budget is about $2,500. The $1 fee increase would raise it to about $165,000.

Payne said the fee will be budgeted to several different areas, including delegate travel expenses and several full-time professional staff members.

"I want students to have the ability (to serve) and not have to spend their own money like I have," he said.

"(Lack of funds) pushed some students out and led some campuses not to participate."

Payne said he believes the BOG would be enhanced by increased participation from students across the state.

"I think it's bad that the majority of (ASG) presidents have been from UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State (University)," he said. "I dream of the day a student from Elizabeth City State University can serve on the Board of Governors."

But several BOG members expressed concern about the $95,000 allotted for professional staff members in ASG's budget proposal.

Former N.C. Gov. James Holshouser said he thinks that by employing a professional staff, student voice in the ASG might be lost.

He said it will take an extraordinary person to not push his agenda on students after having worked with several different ASG administrations.

BOG member John Davis also expressed concerns about the potential crossover between what the students need and what a director would want.

"I think we could be creating a monster here, and I want to be careful," he said.

But Payne said the ASG is structured so that a board of directors, made up of the student body presidents from each of the 16 campuses, will approve all hiring decisions. He says this will ensure that students have the ultimate say.

"It has always been my goal that (ASG) remain a student-centered organization," he said.

There also was conflict as to whether the BOG would oversee the ASG's budget each year.

BOG member Jim Phillips said he is concerned about BOG interference with the ASG's budget.

He said he thinks budget oversight is the ASG president's responsibility.

But Payne said he is elated that the $1 fee increase passed, despite any possible changes.

"Words can't describe what I feel like," he said. "The 170,000 students in this state have reached a new level of empowerment."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.