Student Association President Boris Gresely proposed creating a five-member task force to look into tuition increases during SA’s meeting Monday night.

Students currently have no say in the process of setting tuition cost, Gresely said. The decision to raise tuition was made before Chancellor Kent Syverud took office in January, but the chancellor told Gresely that in the future students will play an important role in the process of setting tuition.

“(The chancellor) was surprised that there was no student feedback on the decision to raise tuition,” Gresely said. “I was very happy to know that for next semester he’s already set in motion, for myself and other student leaders to be a part of this process.”

Last week, the university announced that tuition for full-time undergraduate students will increase by 3.6 percent for the 2014–15 academic year, rising from $38,970 to $40,380. The cost of room and board will increase by between 2.9 and three percent, depending on what room and meal plan a student chooses.

In addition, the university will allocate $222 million for undergraduate student financial aid for the 2014–15 academic year, a 3.7 percent increase from 2013–14’s $216 million allocation. The tuition increase is the same as last year, tying it for the lowest increase in 48 years.

Gresely’s proposed task force would consist of five students, both SA members and non-SA members, who would discuss and analyze how other schools are dealing with tuition. Other schools have taken actions such as grandfathering tuition and freezing tuition and the task force would examine these and other alternatives, Gresely said.

“This task force will definitely help us understand what other universities are doing, how we can do those same things and also it can provide me, myself and other student leaders a direction when discussing this process next semester with the chancellor,” he said.

Other business discussed:
• Monday marked the 144th anniversary of SU’s founding and to mark the event, Speaker Ben Jones introduced a resolution to the assembly commemorating the day. The resolution passed unanimously.
• Gresely announced that trashcans have been placed on Euclid Avenue as part of the Euclid Task Force, which was started last session. So far, trashcans have been placed on Marshall Street next to Whitman and on the corner of Comstock and Euclid Avenues, Gresely said.
• Parliamentarian Stephen Thomas announced that assembly audits have started. Nine SA members have been randomly selected to have their demerits and productivity in SA examined.
• After awarding $1,013.38 in special programming funds last week, there is $2,009.70 special programming funds remaining. Special programming is now closed.

Published on March 25, 2014 at 1:03 am

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