Focus on fees: Students should engage in committee to keep fees low

The new oversight committee in Student Congress is already taking shape. Students should actively engage the committee to keep fees low.

UNC’s student constitution grants Student Congress the power to review student fees, and legislation just introduced by co-chairman of the committee Adam Horowitz outlines the role that the committee will play regarding fees — possibly the most consequential area for students.

It’s addressing an important issue. But if you’re thinking of getting your dollar back easily, think again.

The logistics that Horowitz’s bill would put in place to change fees are fairly complicated, and would be introduced to an already complex network of committees and approvals.

After reviewing a fee, proposed changes must be presented before Congress.

These adjustments must also gain approval from the student fee advisory subcommittee, and then the tuition and fee advisory task force. Finally, all fee changes are subject to approval by the Board of Trustees or the Board of Governors.

All adjustments also have to be passed in a student body referendum.

The process feels convoluted — but not entirely unjustified. The same institutional structure for passing fees has to be used to roll them back.

The student fees outlined in the bill currently total about $70. Two of these fees have been raised in the past year — increases that could be avoided with more administrative hoops to jump through.

This means that students and administrators are going to need to play active roles in the work of the oversight committee. Fees seem to only go up these days, and almost no one speaks out about it. But rolling them back requires engagement from students who may normally not pay attention to referendums.

Openness to reasonable fee reductions also has to be the prevailing sentiment among administrators.

Some of us pay for our own education. Some of us have it paid for, either by our parents, the University or private scholarships. But that’s no reason not to be engaged in keeping our educational expenses reasonable.