The Student Association (SA) Assembly met Wednesday to discuss a range of issues, including Spring Fest and future tuition increases.
With the semester nearing the two-month mark, SA President Peter Grollitsch said SA has already accomplished a lot and held a number of successful events including Fall Fest.
SA has also begun planning for next semester's Spring Fest, which he said will feature rock music.
"The entertainment department is working on preliminary names," Grollitsch said.
He encouraged assembly attendees to submit suggestions for acts they would like to see.
"We'll do whatever we can to bring who you want," Grollitsch said.
Grollitsch also said he has been taking part in committees involved with plans for UB 2020 and will continue to send SA members to speak at meetings on behalf of the university's undergraduate population.
"The goal is to keep the lines of communication open," Grollitsch said. "A lot UB 2020 plans aren't on hold, but are shifting where they're going."
With continued planning for UB 2020 and the recent economic problems, talks about possible raises in tuition have increased. SA delegates were recently in Syracuse to meet with the New York State Student Assembly. The delegates approved a rational tuition policy, which has been a topic of interest at recent Faculty Senate Executive Committee meetings.
The cost of tuition has remained the same for the past five years, according to Grollitsch. The rational tuition policy lays out a 20-year plan for tuition increases so that parents and students can be aware of all increases and how it will affect them.
In conjunction with UB 2020, focus has also been placed on creating an environmentally-friendly campus and climate neutrality, and Grollitsch said SA has been involved with UB Green and their plans for sustainability.
"A lot of people are interested in that now with the state of the world's climate," Grollitsch said.
While many plans for the year are moving forward, plans to work with the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) on providing UB students with bus passes at a decreased rate have come to a standstill.
Grollitsch said that SA and UB administrators have been willing to talk about the possibility but have not received any positive feedback from the NFTA, contacting them over the summer in an attempt to provide passes for students.
"They came back to us four months later and said [the NFTA] can't give us anything," he said.
According to Grollitsch, the campus will continue to use its current transportation system because it is currently the most cost effective.
He also addressed the referendum that passed in September, with 90 percent of voters in favor of keeping the mandatory student activity fee, and another 80 percent in favor of a fee increase. Grollitsch was pleased with the results.
"Those are really good numbers," he said.
Grollitsch went on to discuss plans to give additional money from the increase to SA clubs next year.
"We just got a little bit more money, and that's going to come back to the clubs," Grollitsch said.
He also mentioned plans to change the SA finance department, eliminating some of the hurdles clubs need to go through to obtain funds, streamlining the process while still maintaining accountability.
The SA Assembly also approved several new staff members at the meeting, as well as four new student justices to be trained for the Student-Wide Judiciary.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
