The Student Association wants students to spend $10 more each semester to support the organization.
Every two years, SA holds a vote on whether the mandatory student activity fee, which funds the student-run organization, should continue. This year, for the first time in six years, SA is asking for that fee to get a boost. The SA now has a roughly $3.5 million budget collecting $94.75 per undergraduate student.
SA will hold a referendum on the continued use of the mandatory student activity fee from Wednesday to Friday in the Student Union. SA will also ask students if they want to raise the fee to $104.75. The SA Senate elections will also be taking place over the same days.
It has been six years since the last increase in the mandatory student activity fee. In 2008, SA asked for a $15 increase from its $79.75 fee.
“Over that time, costs of everything has risen, along with that goes our operating costs,” said SA President James Ingram. “So really, we’re asking for a $10 increase so that we continue to offer the same quality and same level of services to students as well as hopefully build in a little room for growth.”
SUNY policies state a referendum must be held every two years for the student body to vote on whether the activity fee should be mandatory or voluntary. The activity fee may not exceed $250 for the academic year, according to suny.edu.
The student activity fees help SA pay for the events on campus, such as Fall Fest, Spring Fest, SA Carnival and the Distinguished Speakers Series.
Binghamton University’s activity fee is $95.50 per semester while Stony Brook University’s is $99.50. University at Albany has a student activity fee of $100.
The referendum vote will be split into two categories. One vote will decide whether to keep the activity fee mandatory, and the second is for the $10 increase. There needs be a majority of “yes” votes for the referendum to pass.
The last referendum was held in 2012. The $94.75 fee passed with 1,300 “yes” votes and 172 “no” votes. Voter turnout is typically low for UB’s roughly 20,000 undergraduates.
“The whole point of the referendum is that students have a chance to voice their opinions about it every two years,” Ingram said.
Vanessa Ho, a junior biomedical engineering major, said she would want to see “dramatic changes” if the mandatory student activity fee is raised by $10. She wants to be able to see where money from the fee goes beyond Fall Fest and Spring Fest, and to have the SA budget more public to students.
SA Treasurer Sade Cadle said she feels the increase in the activity fee is a “fair amount.” She said having the mandatory student activity fee is a “vital source” for SA because UB is such a large university.
Ingram said the fee increase was received well from students after he presented it in front of the international, academic and engineering councils.
Kelsey Wise, a graduate student in the School of Counseling, does not have to pay the mandatory student activity fee. She said if she were given the choice, she would pay the fee rather than have to pay for events individually. She said not paying for individual events makes SA student activities feel more “exclusive.”
Senate elections will take place during the same time as the referendum. The only party running this year is the Constitution Party. It consists of Paris Canty, Matthew Cato, Alex Dvorscak, Anthony Field, Daniel Giles, Laura Grassi, David Harary, Esther Hong, Karin Hsieh, Diane Orosz, Corey Reisman and Yaser Soliman.
The Senate is a student-run body that votes on SA’s budget, constitution changes and club recognitions.
Last February, the previous Senate passed an amendment removing the distinction of on-campus and off-campus senators. Beforehand, Senate candidates were divided between six on-campus and six off-campus candidates. Students who live on-campus were only able to vote for on-campus candidates, and the same rules applied for off-campus students and candidates.
For this election, students will be able to vote for any candidate regardless of whether the student lives on or off campus.
Cato, Field, Giles, Grassi, Hong, Hsieh and Reisman are listed as living on-campus, and Canty, Dvorscak, Orosz, Soliman and Harary are off-campus students, according to Ingram.
Students can vote for the referendum and the SA senate elections in the Student Union Theater from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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