Although administrators often seek input from the student body president and other student leaders when considering potential fee hikes, they are not required to seek opinions from regular students.
“There’s no set policy,” said Paul Brinkman, associate vice president for budget and planning. “We try to make it possible for the student government to play a role whenever possible.”
However, the student body president can often make the process more democratic if he or she chooses.
In 2007, the Associated Students of the University of Utah sought student opinion about two proposed fees: a $5 increase for fine arts programs and a new $3 fee to subsidize study abroad programs.
A majority of students rejected the study abroad increase and a thin majority (51 percent) approved of the fine arts fee increase. The results seemed to influence student leaders, who decided to wait to move forward with the study abroad fee and lower the fine arts increase to $1.50.
Student Body President Spencer Pearson decided to seek support for the study abroad fee this year because most freshmen and sophomores had supported the increase when polled in 2007. No additional surveys were conducted, but the ASUU Senate and General Assembly passed a resolution supporting the increase.
Students will start paying the fee this Fall Semester. Only freshmen and sophomores will pay the fee at first, but eventually everyone will pay it.
Brinkman said administrators aren’t required to get approval from ASUU, but they often involve student leaders so they can use the ASUU legislative process and polls to help gauge student opinion.
However, some fees are increased without any formal input from students.
This year the administration added a new $5 library fee and increased the recreation fee and transportation fee without formally seeking student input.
Brinkman said every fee is evaluated differently. Generally, the administration increases student fees to correspond with changes in the Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation. He said fees usually don’t increase more than the CPI.
“Up to there we feel we’re just sort of marching in place,” he said.
Brinkman said administrators seek student opinion when a new fee is added or could increase more than the CPI.
It’s particularly important that students weigh in on new fees, Pearson said.
“We want to make sure we have student interest as far as supporting the program,” he said.
The administration didn’t seek student opinion about several of next year’s fee increases because Brinkman said the increases are offset by other fee cuts, correspond with increases in the federal minimum wage or were negotiated as part of previous agreements.
For example, the $5 library fee is offset by a $5 cut in the fuel and power fee.
Pearson said the library fee could have been put in second-tier tuition, but by keeping it with fees it allows students to see where the money is going. It also allows for change in the future.
“Fees are more transparent,” he said.
Because students know where the money is being spent, they can lobby for or against the fees in the future, Pearson said.
“Hopefully we can eventually get that fee eliminated,” he said.
Justin Cyr, a junior in exercise physiology, said he doesn’t mind the U making minor fee increases as long as the process is transparent.
“I don’t think it’s necessary that they ask students about every little fee as long as we know what it’s going to,” he said.
Brinkman said making fees separate from tuition helps administrators better monitor spending so fees can be eliminated in the future. He said more expensive colleges don’t bother with student fees and just wrap all costs into tuition.
With special focuses on spending, such as with the new study abroad fee, Brinkman said it allows students to focus in on something on which they want to spend their money.
Rochelle McConkie contributed to this report.