Services committee considers lowering some students’ fees

The University Services Committee is in the early stages of investigating the idea of decreasing student fees for part-time, off-campus and graduate students at Georgia College & State University.

The University Services Committee, a section of the University Senate, discussed the possibility in their last meeting.

“The issue was brought to the committee because there were concerns that for students taking one or two classes, the fees can be a significant percentage of the total cost, or in the case of one two-credit hour class, even more than tuition,” said Beth Broyles, committee member and assistant professor of instructional technology.

The University Services Committee, which is comprised of GC&SU faculty and staff, is now debating the issue.

Some members of the committee proposed that off-campus and part-time students pay pro-rates. This would make the fees proportional dependent on the number of hours taken, and in turn, would also lessen the amount of revenue available to the university.

Megan Melancon, committee member and assistant professor of English at GC&SU says the university could lose revenue due to these unnecessary fees. Students who travel from places such as Macon and Warner Robins, mainly who need just a class or two to graduate, end up taking those classes at Macon State and surrounding schools to decrease cost.

“[The change] lightens the financial burden of part-time students who rarely, if ever, use these facilities,” Melancon said.

Alice Loper, director of Student Health Services, said decreases in student fees may affect other aspects of the university.

“The only budget the clinic has is generated from student fees. There are no state-funded job positions for the clinic. The budget we have covers salaries for the clinic employees and the Wellness Depot,” Alice Loper, director of Student Health Services, said. “Cutting the number of people who pay fees will only have a negative impact as far as I am concerned. Less money equals less services and supplies, longer wait times, etc.”

Broyles said the discussion was strictly informative and no changes were proposed. She has researched other schools in the University System of Georgia.

“I surveyed a number of USG institutions to see how they handle this situation and found that some institutions charge pro-rated or lower fees for part-timers and some don’t,” Broyles said.

The process to turn talk into action is a lengthy one.

This discussion is currently in its infant stages. If passed, the motion goes from the University Senate to President Leland and to the Board of Regents.

For more information, see info.gcsu.edu, scroll over the faculty and staff panel and click on University Senate, specifically University Services.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 18 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry