Athletics seeking decrease in student fees favoring tuition
During the latest, and final student fee hearing, the UVU Athletics department requested a $6.50 decrease in their student fee per semester in order to transition their funding to student tuition.
The final day of student fee hearings reviewed proposals from Student Health Services, UVU Athletics and from the School of The Arts on Jan. 27. The Athletic Department stood out among the proposals, as it is the only department requesting a decrease in their student fee among all other proposals.
“Athletics provides an opportunity for students to compete and get an education,” the proposal read. “Many of whom would not be able to earn a college degree otherwise.”
As it currently stands, the athletics student fee is $83.21, the current proposal would bring it down to $76.71 for the 2022-2023 academic year. This would continue per semester until the department had transitioned their funding entirely to student tuition.
Jared Sumsion, athletic director, Kameron Dearing, assistant athletic director and Nikki Scott, assistant athletic director, shared with the student council that athletics marketing has been performing well, mentioning the recent men’s basketball win over BYU.
“There is tremendous market value on events like that,” stated Sumison. The value of brand recognition that Sumison put on the BYU game was around $5 million.
Due to the recent effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, expenses for the department have decreased due to travel restrictions. This year, the department had a total expenditure of a little over $14 million. Of that amount, fees are used to cover about $5 million.
Prior to athletics, Student Health Services presented to the council and proposed no changes to their current student fee of $8.54. This may be subject to change due to a lack of information on how the cost of living adjustment (COLA) will affect their salaries. Bill Erb, senior director of Student Health Services, presented on behalf of the department.
“We want to support students and their goals,” said Erb. “We want to do the most that we can for the smallest cost.”
Erb explained to the counsel that the department is experiencing a severe backlog of patient service in psychiatric treatment. He attributed this to the recent construction that has displaced much of the Sorensen Student Center and the lack of psychiatric nurses on hand. This has led to a wait period of three to four months, according to Erb.
Finally, the council heard from Jim Godfrey, assistant dean, and Courtney Davis, the dean, for the School of the Arts. Reporting a surplus of $43,102, the department is seeking to maintain the current fee of $1.71. This fee is used to help lower the cost of admission tickets for students and the general public.
In correction to previous articles, the date for voting on the final student fee proposal has been moved to Feb. 10, and publicly available by Feb. 8, according to student body president Karen Magaña-Aguado. The hearing scheduled for Feb. 3, will now hear the council discuss the proposal and the hearings as a whole.
All hearings are open to the public, and students are encouraged to attend. For more information on student fees, visit the UVUSA website.
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