With the clock ticking on the eve of the Board of Trustees meeting, the Chancellor’s Committee on Student Fees became the second body in as many days to reject a dramatic student fee increase.
The committee held an almost two-hour emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss a plan that would increase both merit-based scholarships and funding for the Department of Athletics.
Much of the committee’s debate hinged on the role of student fees, which several members, particularly students, defined as dues paid in exchange for services.
Judith Wegner, chairwoman of the faculty, had called for logo revenues to be shifted from athletics to merit-based scholarships during Monday’s Student Fee Audit Committee meeting.
The shift called for a $150 athletics fee to be tacked onto student fees to replace funding for athletics, increasing both athletics funding and merit scholarships through a single fee hike.
For Tuesday’s meeting, Wegner whittled her proposal down to a $50 hike per student in a move that she said she hoped would garner a more receptive response.
Wegner addressed concerns about the late nature of the proposal in her opening statement to the committee, of which she is a member.
“I know this seems like, ‘Why now and why this year?’” she said. “I wouldn’t have brought this idea ahead if there wasn’t a real pressing need.”
Though student fee discussions typically are held in the early fall, Wegner said her brainstorming didn’t bear fruit until recently.
