The CSU board of trustees’ committee on finance voted yesterday to recommend another system-wide 10 percent student fee increase and a raise in the per-unit fee for business administration graduate students.
The board is expected to approve the fee increase today.
The proposed 10 percent student fee increase, if passed, would be the seventh fee hike since 2002. According to the CSU, this proposed fee would help offset state budget cuts. Annual student fees would increase to $3,354 for undergraduates, $3,894 for teacher credential students and $4,134 for graduate students.
Student Trustee Curtis Grima said he opposed the fee increase.
“I don’t think it is the appropriate time right now to support this,” Grima said. “I think it would send a message to the state if we decide to not subsidize the funds with student fees.”
Trustee Melinda Guzman said, “This fee increase needs to happen. [However] I voted no in the past and I want to vote no again.”
She said that in the private sector, when a business has problems the company hires a consultant.
“We need to get advice from an outside source,” Guzman said.
Guzman urged the committee on finance to “get some wiser minds together so we can have a plan.”
California Faculty Association President Lillian Tiaz said on the CFA website, “CFA has long argued that it is wrong to keep raising fees in the public state university, especially when no work has been done to learn the impact of these fee increases on our students and our state.”
The CFA has called for the investigation of the CSU and the impact of these types of student fee increases on attendance and graduation rates.
The second fee discussed is a per-unit fee for students in professional business graduate school. Before the fee was voted on, some trustee members discussed why this fee would be significant to all of the masters of business administration students.
“I think from this fee we will see an increase in the diversity of applicants,” said Trustee Russel Statham.
Two business students spoke in favor of the per-unit fee increase, saying the additional funding from the per-unit fee would help maintain the program and help acquire or continue accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
The trustees also discussed the CSU African American Initiative, a plan that involves campus officials interacting with local churches to encourage higher education.
The initiative includes CSU Super Sundays, a month-long event with the CSU chancellor, presidents and board of trustees speaking at various churches throughout the state. In 2006, 24 churches participated in the events, while this year 72 participated.
The congregation size increased from 35,000 in 2006 to 92,250 this year.
The plans for the initiative include reaching 100 participants, gathering support for the idea of adding on Super Saturdays and expanding the participation in counselor conferences with the youth involved with the churches.
For the results of today’s meeting pick up a Daily Forty-Niner on Thursday or go to www.daily49er.wpengine.com.