Athletic fee tabled until fall for graduate, professional students

"At this point in the spring semester, with classes nearly over, it is obvious that this academic year will not afford us the time to have the further conversations which, were we to institute a new graduate and professional student fee for next fall, would be required," said UB President William R. Greiner. "We believe it is important to take time to continue discussions, develop more detailed analyses and reconcile various objectives and viewpoints on these issues."

Graduate and professional students at UB currently are not charged a separate athletic fee. An undergraduate athletic fee of $50 per semester was instituted in fall of 1990; the fee was increased to $100 per semester at the start of the spring 1997 semester.

The fees are just one part of the evolution UB's athletic programs have undergone over the past decade.

"The concept of students supporting intercollegiate athletics has been with us since we began the Run to Division I several years ago," said Robert L. Palmer, UB vice president for student affairs. "Along with development activities and state support, (the intention was) students would contribute to the upgrade of intercollegiate athletics. Involving graduate students has always been part of the plan."

No specific dollar amount has been proposed for the graduate- and professional-student fee, he said.

Overall investment needs to grow

UB's intercollegiate athletic programs are supported by a number of revenue sources: gate receipts, concessions, advertising, guarantees, philanthropic gifts and state operating funds, in addition to student fees.

"It is clear that our overall investment is going to need to grow and I don't just mean student fee revenue, but all revenue: gifts and grants, gate and concessions, student fees and the overall level of university support," said Robert J. Wagner, UB senior vice president.

"Given the tremendous strain which has already been placed on UB's state-operating budget and our academic priorities for state-operating funds, we are most focused on increasing non-state support for our intercollegiate-athletics programs. Broadening the revenue base for intercollegiate athletics has been part of the five-year plan for this upgrade, and the notion of an athletic fee for graduate and professional students has long been considered as part of that broader base," Greiner said.

A stronger financial base also is important as UB prepares to move into the NCAA Division I-A Mid-American Conference, he added.

"MAC membership is a key step for UB toward competing among other major public institutions, but it is only a step, and up-front investment is going to be necessary before we can realize the benefits that major athletics programs offer."

Athletics program a big boost for UB

Major athletics programs benefit the institution in a number of ways, according to Greiner. They provide "a different, richer quality of life," build loyalty and support among communities and alumni, attract student and faculty interest, recruit higher-quality students and student athletes, attract external investment from advertisers and philanthropic supporters, and help the institution maintain outstanding recreation facilities that have broader uses for the campus.

"A stronger intercollegiate-athletics program already has been a big boost for UB," Greiner said. "We believe it is appropriate for graduate and professional students to help support intercollegiate athletics, since they, too, benefit from the broad institutional advantages of these programs."

The athletics upgrade is "a direction we've talked about moving in for a long time, and in order to compete, the university has to give more support and student fees are one piece of it," Wagner said. "We've looked at institutions in this conference (MAC) and at 10 institutions students do pay some portion of the costs of the program. At all the institutions where students pay, graduate students also pay."

Proposed fee has met with resistance

The proposed fee has met with considerable and vocal resistance from graduate students at UB, in part because of the ramifications an additional fee can present to students facing financial hardship.

According to Jim O'Loughlin, president of UB's Graduate Student Association, unlike financial aid for undergraduate students, financial aid for graduate students is merit-, not need-based, and tuition wavers do not cover academic fees.

For students with little financial flexibility, particularly international students who are prevented from working, "the only way to make an adjustment in their budgets when there is a fee increase is to cut back," O'Loughlin said. If graduate and professional students are assessed the same $200 annual fee as undergraduates, it could inflict significant hardship. "In Buffalo, that's about a month's rent," he said.

"I'm happy to see that they decided to switch plans. I think it's a good sign and bodes well for next year," O'Loughlin said.