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Student comprehensive fee to increase
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
The comprehensive student fee will increase by $52.75 per semester for full-time undergraduates—rising to $738.25 for the upcoming fall semester, Dennis Black, vice president for student affairs, has announced.
The fee will increase $46.75 per semester for full-time graduate and professional students, bringing it to $556.25 for the semester.
The fee increase will support state-mandated fringe-benefit increases for employees in all fee areas, increased technology costs and services, increased bus contract costs and enhanced athletic and recreation programming.
It includes $8.25 per semester for technology, $13 for transportation, $17.50 for campus life, $8 for health services and $6 for athletics—assessed only to undergraduates.
Fees are pro-rated on a credit-hour basis for part-time students, and the waiver policy will be continued. Individual student government mandatory activity fees are assessed in addition to the comprehensive fee.
The fee increase is more than double that proposed by Black when the fee consultation process began last February. At that time, the proposed increase was $22.75 a semester for undergraduates and $16.75 per semester for graduate and professional students.
Black attributed the larger-than-expected increase in the comprehensive fee to the cost of state-negotiated bargaining contracts with UB employees.
"When the student fee increase was initially proposed in February, the state had not yet negotiated a new contract for its employees," he said. "Obviously, the new contract impacts not only salaries, but the cost of benefit packages. The fee increase takes that into consideration."
The cost of a new bus contract—the old contract had been in effect for six years—also turned out to be more than had been anticipated in February due to spiraling fuel costs, Black noted, adding that the contract does contain a "reopener" clause that would drop the cost of the contract if fuel costs decline.
The fee increase for technology will provide a dedicated source of funding to maintain and replace equipment in the existing technology classrooms and to progressively increase the number of technology-enabled classrooms to meet increased demand. Only 60 of the approximately 150 classrooms on campus are technology-enabled. It also will assist in the acquisition of electronic materials for the UB Libraries.
The transportation increase will provide funds to support the increased cost of maintaining campus parking lots, as well as the projected $333,000 increase in the bus contract for 2004-05.
The intercollegiate athletics increase will be used to supplement legislative gender-equity funding and support expansion of women's varsity sports to bring them on par with the men's sports.
It also will be used to support further investment in the Division I program that is needed for UB to be competitive with its peer institutions, as well as inflationary costs associated with team travel, student recruiting, administrative support focusing on student wellness issues and student payroll within Recreation and Intramural Services.
In addition, it will support the purchase of new equipment for the fitness center and expansion of recreational programs.
The campus life increase will support enhancement of club sports and recreational activities, in addition to state-mandated negotiated salary and fringe-benefit increases. Among the club-sport/recreational enhancements are renovations to the old stadium on the North Campus, including replacement of the existing turf with an all-season, all weather turf, as well as lighting and restrooms.
The health services increase will support the state-negotiated bargaining contracts, Black said, noting that most employees that are paid through student fees are in the health-services and campus-life areas.
For further information on the comprehensive fees and the waiver process, go to http://www.ub-judiciary.buffalo.edu/compfee.shtml
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