In the eleventh hour before the University’s governing board finalizes recommendations for tuition and student fee increases, a two-part proposal to bolster funds for merit scholarships and athletic programs has surfaced.
Judith Wegner, chairwoman of the faculty, is calling for the chancellor and members of the Board of Trustees to reassess the allocation of funds garnered through trademark logo revenue. She also wants officials to increase the student athletic fee by $150.
“It is a policy call that maybe we need to realign, rethink and change,” she said. “I believe in fiscal responsibility. If you’ve got a chronic issue here, how do you weigh these demands?”
This proposal, which will debut during a special meeting of the Chancellor’s Committee on Student Fees today, comes at the peak of tuition discussions, when members of student government have just begun to solicit input and mobilize the student voice.
Student government is hosting a forum about tuition at 7 p.m. today in 116 Murphey Hall.
Trustees will vote on student fees and campus-based tuition increases during their meeting this week. In addition to a proposed $64.50 fee increase, three tuition-hike proposals are on the table: $350 for in-state students and $800 for out-of-state students; $300 in-state and $1,000 out-of-state; and $250 for residents and $1,200 for nonresidents.
The revenues generated through the tuition increases would fund need-based aid, teaching assistant salaries and faculty salaries as well as increase the size of the faculty — the priorities recommended by the Tuition Task Force.
But Wegner said other University needs — such as merit scholarships and a stable source of funding for athletics — must be addressed before it is too late.
“If it is a true need, we need to look at it in the eye and say it is a true need.”
