The referendum proposes increasing the student activity fee for all students to $19.50 per semester. Currently, undergraduates pay $11.50 per semester and graduate students pay $9.50 per semester.
The increase in student fees would enable student organizations to fund more events and bring distinguished speakers to campus, said Speaker Tony Larson.
This would be the first significant increase in the student activity fee since 1984. Inflation and state budget cuts prevent organizations from continuing programs of a high caliber under the same budgets they have had for almost 20 years, many Congress members said.
"This is one of the few areas where students have the right, impact and ability to determine what they pay," Vollmer said.
Vollmer also questioned the need to increase the student activity fee when Congress has yet to allocate all of its funds for this year and $24,000 was returned to Congress at the end of last year because organizations did not use it.
Larson said that most organizations received only a small portion of what they asked for last spring and that many will return to ask for subsequent funding.
He also said organizations are hesitant to ask for funding for major events because of Congress' lack of adequate funds during the last few years.
"Organizations on this campus are afraid to dream big," he said.
Some Congress members said they were motivated to increase the fee because they had witnessed the disappointment of student organization leaders whose requests for funding were turned down. "I watched as groups were told that all of the plans they made this year were not going to happen because we don't have the money," Larson said.
Sophomore Margaret Thomas said additional funding would allow Congress to fund organizations that are deserving but have not received an adequate amount in the past. "These organizations come before us and want to help people ... and we have to tell them no," she said.
Although Congress members agreed that the resolution amounted to a self-imposed tuition increase, some said the increase would be minor and could have far-reaching effects on campus.
Larson said increasing the student activity fee would put the University's funding for student organizations closer to that at peer institutions.
Dean Shatley, a law student who spent his undergraduate years at Appalachian State University, said, "A fee increase will not make UNC a better school, but it will make UNC a better place to go to school."
Many representatives said passing the legislation was not an endorsement of the referendum, it was just giving students an opportunity to have their opinions heard.
Finance Committee Chairwoman Natalie Russell said students will have the opportunity to make up their minds on the issue when they vote in February.
"We're just throwing this out there and seeing what students think."
The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.
