WSGA proposes change in student activity fee
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Shayden Hanes, WSGA president, introduces a bill that affects the student fee cost. Hanes along with Quinn Leffingwell, WSGA vice president, stated that this bill would allow the student activity fee to change at the same percentage rate as the university’s tuition.
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Ariel Smith, WSGA senator, talks about concerns she has with the proposed student fee bill. Senators showed concern in raising the fee and questioned whether it would benefit the student body.
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Jayce Wessel, chief of staff, further explains the student fee. Washburn University’s current student fee of $55 is considered low when compared to other universities.
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George Burdick, speaker of the house, motions to table the bill until the next WSGA senate meeting. The bill will be heard at the next all senate meeting March 22.
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Antonio Martinez, health and wellness committee chairperson and the incoming WSGA president, proposes to table the bill indefinitely. A motion to table the bill indefinitely meant that the bill would not be brought before the senate again.
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Cameron Meseke, director of legislative research, talks about the changes being made to the WSGA constitution and by-laws. Grammar and clarity issues were addressed and presented to the senate for approval.
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Isaiah Collier, director of Student Involvement and Development, explains what the student fee does. The student fee funds various organizations, activities and services on campus.
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Megan Dorantes, WSGA senator, discusses International Women’s Day. WSGA passed a resolution to officially recognize March 8 as International Women’s Day.
In response to rising inflation, WSGA discussed a new bill that would affect student fees at their all-senate meeting March 8.
The bill, proposed by Shayden Hanes, WSGA president, and Quinn Leffingwell, WSGA vice president, would cause the student activity fee to change at the same percentage rate as the university’s tuition, as approved by the Board of Regents.
Washburn’s student fees were moved to a flat rate of $55 in spring 2018 during the Surritt-Henry administration. The student fee helps fund various organizations, activities and services on campus for students to enjoy and use at not cost.
“Tuition over the last seven years has increased at max 3%,” said Hanes. “And so our idea with this is to increase the student activity fee, instead of it being a flat rate, to gradually increase it at the rate of tuition.”
The hope is that this bill will prove to be sustainable in the future. With rising costs and inflation, WSGA wants to ensure it will have enough funds to continue to allocate to organizations on campus.
Hanes and Leffingwell have not presented this idea to the Board of Regents, as they wanted to get the opinion of the senate first. According to Hanes, JuliAnn Mazachek, president of Washburn University, is in support of the bill.
Members of the senate showed concerns over the necessity to raise student fees. Many senators argued against the bill and thought that increasing the fee would be harmful to the student population.
“I’m also thinking about those students that can barely afford to eat, 3% might be a big deal to them,” said Ariel Smith, WSGA senator.
During discussion, Antonio Martinez, health and wellness committee chairperson and the incoming WSGA president, proposed that the bill be tabled indefinitely. Tabling the bill indefinitely would mean that the bill cannot be brought before the senate again. This is different than just tabling the bill, which would mean it would be heard at the next senate meeting. The senate voted against tabling the bill indefinitely.
After a lengthy debate between the senate, it was voted to table the bill until the next senate meeting March 22.
Edited by Glorianna Noland and Christina Noland
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