An audit of all departments receiving funds from the dedicated student fee has made it possible for ASUI President Samantha Perez to recommend a zero percent increase to the fee for the next academic year.
The dedicated student fee, or student activity fee, is one portion of student fees paid each year, and is allocated for student organization and department use. Through the auditing process, Perez said the student activity fee committee found $9 of each student’s payment that could be reallocated, including the loss of a $3 Wheatland Express fee.
“For the most part the majority of the departments were using the money and they were using it for what it had originally been allocated for,” Perez said. “A lot of the funding was going either to programs that were directly benefitting students or it was going to student salaries.”
Perez said one department was not using the funds it had been receiving, and had almost $100,000 in reserves.
“There was one department that, honestly it started out as a really awesome idea and it was an amazing thing that they were doing, but the process that they were using was broken, and so they just had been kind of sitting on their student activity fee money,” Perez said.
The department has not been notified yet, but Perez said it will not receive the funding — a $6 fee — next year, and will likely return its reserve funds to ASUI for reallocation. She said the problem was apparent in templates, and the department was given the remainder of fall semester and some spring to fix the problem, but it didn’t happen. Perez said the audit and unused $9 has given ASUI enough flexibility to give high-priority departments an increase next year without requiring an increase from student pockets.
Funds will be distributed to the athletic department will also change next year. Previously, the Idaho State Board of Education rule stipulated that athletics receive a percentage increase parallel to the student activity fee.
“So last year the student activity fee went up 0.5 percent, so athletics automatically got a 0.5 percent increase in their fee,” Perez said. “… We didn’t have a choice, we couldn’t say no, they always get the funding no matter what.”
The rule was changed to cap at the student activity fee percent of increase, Perez said, making it possible to give the department that much or nothing at all.
“I think that students are sick of seeing that fee go up — we are sick of paying for it, and so we’re trying to be responsible stewards of those dollars,” she said, “… And so we’re going to try to keep it as close to zero as possible …”
Perez said nothing has been set because the proposal will need to be approved by the SBOE, but she has sent the recommendation to UI President M. Duane Nellis.
“That’s something that the state board always looks at is how much athletics gets from the student activity fee and I think it’s something that we take very seriously,” Perez said.
She said 11 departments requested increases that totaled $27 for next year. Last year, only five departments presented with a total request of $6 to 8.
“I think there’s a lot of things that we either will fund or we won’t fund, or we’ll partially fund,” Perez said. “I doubt that anybody will really get their full increase.”
Perez said she thinks keeping the student activity fee low sends a good message to the SBOE that students are trying to be fiscally responsible. Keith Ickes, UI executive director for Planning and Budget, said not increasing the student activity fee allows increases in other areas.
Ickes said the SBOE looks at the student activity fee, technology fee, facility fee and tuition as a single number and gives an increase on the whole amount. He said the technology and facility fee will stay the same, making tuition the only proposed increase.
“We don’t set tuition, we ask for tuition and the state board has to agree to what tuition increase we give,” Ickes said. “So I think this helps make a strong case for the board that what we’re asking for is really driven by key university needs.”
Ickes said there has been a positive relationship with ASUI because students understand tuition dollars apply to the whole university and give more flexibility in spending.
“I think it’s a much different relationship here and it’s very positive,” Ickes said. “We’re very open about what we’re trying to get and what we’re trying to solve.”
Perez and Ickes said the level of involvement Perez has had in fee setting and other areas of the budget does not always occur at other institutions.
“It’s just really exciting here at the University of Idaho that it’s seven students that represent every single student — graduate, undergraduate and law — and we come together and we decide as students what is best going to benefit our peers,” Perez said.
Ickes said last year he, President Nellis and former ASUI President Stephen Parrott traveled together to talk and present budget needs to the SBOE. He said he expects to see a similar approach with Perez this year.
“I think it’s a positive for the board because it helps the board understand that we’ve been very open with the student body about what’s going to happen,” Ickes said.
Keeping it going
Perez had experience with student fees as a senator the year before, and said she knew she needed to start the auditing process early to accomplish the task.
“For me, I was just really excited to hear from every department and we didn’t go in thinking that we were going to cut anyone, we just really wanted to verify that they were still using the funding,” she said.
Perez said the auditing process involved a 15-minute presentation based on two templates. One template asked qualitative questions about the department, how the money was being used and the benefit and impact on students. The second was a financial template that showed salaries, capital outlay and a reserve fund.
“I think it went really well,” she said. “It was really interesting just to learn where all that money is going.”
Although her presidency will end in May, Perez said she believes this process should be repeated at least every three years.
To help track where and how the money is spent, if goals are being met and if departments are moving forward, Perez said she is working to compile a binder that lists each fee. She said she understands it is a big commitment for those involved, but it needs to happen.
“But I think it’s really important, too, that we have some accountability and that we take action for the fee that students oversee,” Perez said. “I think it’s really irresponsible that in the past ASUI has just let this money continuously rollover with no checks and balances.”