The Student Senate voted Wednesday against a proposal to raise student service fees beyond the state cap, and voted to send the issue to a referendum in the spring.
“With this first vote we’ve said that the fees are high enough and we refuse to increase them anymore,” said Matthew Wilkins, speaker of the Student Senate. “But we are sending the issue to referendum so that ultimately the student body will have the final say.”
The Student Service Fee Advisory Board (SSFAB), which authored the proposal, can propose an increase in student service fees up to 10 percent per year with a state-mandated cap of $150. Any increases of 10 percent must be voted on by students in a referendum.
Currentl/he proposed increase to $12.51 per semester credit hour would increase fees to $150.12, which is just 12 cents more than the cap.
If the student body does accept the fee increase, a new cap of $250 will go into effect, allowing the board to raise fees less than 10 percent per year without a referendum.
It would take the SSFAB five years to reach this cap if it raised it as much as possible each year.
“Based on my understanding of the budget situation for the division of student affairs, I would have preferred the Senate voted to endorse the bill,” said Dr. Kevin Jackson, director of student activities.
Many organizations have trimmed their budgets due to financial restrictions last year. Will McAdams, Corps commander of the Corps of Cadets, spoke in favor of raising the fee, citing that these student organizations can only survive so long before they will die due to money restraints.
Later in the meeting, the Student Senate voted against the Voting Disclosure Bill, which would effectively remove secret ballots. The arguments against the bill pointed out that many senators would be susceptible to the influence of their peers on sensitive subjects if they weren’t allowed to vote in a secret ballot.
The bill’s authors, Lindsey Shanklin, Jason Sherrieb and Dustin Teems said allowing students to vote on a secret ballot is not representing the student body fairly.
The Student Senate also announced a number of vacancies that can be filled by any student who is in the College of Architecture, Business, Agriculture and Life Sciences, lives off campus, or is a member of the Corps. Applications are available in Koldus 127.