Student fee doubles to $200

The economic situation grew more difficult for students attending public universities in Georgia this past Tuesday when the state Board of Regents unanimously voted to double a special mandatory student fee starting in January. The move means students at Georgia’s research universities, including GCSU, will be charged $200 in student fees each semester.

A University System of Georgia-wide budget cut from 6 percent to 8 percent triggered the fee increase, saving GCSU about $1.4 million per year, according the Susan Allen, chief budget officer and director of payroll services at GCSU.

Tensions reportedly were high after Usha Ramachandran, vice chancellor for fiscal affairs, presented the plan to the board. Only board members were invited to debate the issue at the meeting.

The fee – including the original fee of up to $100 which was instituted this past January – will be in effect until June 30, 2012. At that time, the fee will need the approval of the regents again to be reinstated.

“It’s been my experience that sunsetting fees hardly ever come to reality,” said Larry Walker, a board member from Perry. “If it comes to 2012 and we’ve still got financial problems, we’ll have the same debate we’re having now; but I doubt that’s going to happen.”

If the fee continues through Fall 2010, it, along with a new GCSU wellness-center fee adopted in October, will total $275.

A hardship exemption of the fee has not been established yet, according to GCSU President Dorothy Leland, but it’s being worked on.

At the beginning of this semester, the University System and individual universities decided what places in their budget could shrink if the state called for each university to operate with 4 percent, 6 percent and 8 percent budget cuts.

Schools started in the fall knowing they would have to run on at least 4 percent of their usual budgets. By midterm, a 6-percent cut was instituted along with temporary furloughs and hiring freezes.

The final stage, an 8 percent cut, was officially established at this past Tuesday’s board meeting.

All other fees, excluding the wellness center fee and other private-public venture projects, will require “clearly demonstrated student support,” according to the regents.

How schools document this support was not addressed at the meeting or in the proposal.

One of the plan’s stipulations states university presidents can petition the regents to reallocate part of the funds collected for the fee to different areas of the school’s overall budget. Leland said she doesn’t think it will be necessary to move the fee out of campus operations.

“I think our greatest needs are in instructional positions where students aren’t getting their necessary classes,” Leland said. “That’s where the fee goes.”

If the administration decides to reallocate the funds, they could be moved into any of the existing categories such as Health, Athletics and Transportation & Parking.

The University System is comprised of 35 schools in Georgia including research institutions, comprehensive universities and access institutions.

While GCSU, Georgia Southern University, Kennesaw State University, Southern Polytechnic State University and the University of West Georgia upped their fees by $100 to total $200; comprehensive schools increased their fee by $75; and access schools went up $50.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 20 2009. 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