A day after Duke Student Government's announcement that it had discovered $140,000 in misplaced student activities fees, Vice President of Student Affairs Larry Moneta presented to Campus Council his decision to increase student's quadrangle fee by $30.
Moneta said at the Thursday night meeting that this new charge--which will begin in the 2004-2005 school year--will be used to support cultural events and expand the staff of the Office of Student Activities and Facilities.
Quad fees are currently assessed to subsidize residential life programming and are distributed to each student's residence quad. The additional monies from the fee hike, however, would be diverted, allowing Moneta to create permanent funding for student activities without siphoning off money from academics. He cited this as the reason for the fee increase.
"Student affairs is budgeted in a very peculiar way," Moneta explained. "The bulk of student affairs is funded by tuition, and this puts us in an awkward situation, because we're fighting with the deans of the schools for money."
Moneta asserted that the misplacement of $140,000 in student activities fees would never have occurred had OSAF been adequately staffed.
"It's our job to be tracking student accounts, and we take blame for [the results of the DSG audit]," Moneta said. "[Students] shouldn't be trying to figure out how to track [their] activity fees."
Additionally, he said the money would replace President Nan Keohane's discretionary funding, which currently subsidizes many cultural events. Moneta said he wished to make the support permanent as the president's tenure comes to an end.
"I want this to be a permanently budgeted item," he said. "The alternative is to have this money come out of the tuition price, and I didn't want to fight for more tuition money."
While acknowledging the funding of OSAF was an important task, Campus Council President Anthony Vitarelli said he wished administrators would more frequently consult students when considering raising fees.
"Fee increases are a logical way to dedicate funding, but increased student engagement would make the process clearer for all involved," he said.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: Moneta also presented the plans for the renovation of the Bryan Center walkway. The new plaza, which will connect the Bryan Center, the West Union Building and surrounding areas, is expected to open up space for outdoor dining and event planning.
"It'll hold the most dramatic of festivals and it'll hold lots and lots of vendors," he said. "But on any given day, it will also be a welcome place to sit down and hang out."
Construction on the plaza is slated to begin this summer and the project will take a year to complete. Moneta said challenges from the construction, including maintaining a path of travel and excessive noise, could affect the campus.
"The logistics of this are pretty dramatic, and I don't want to suggest to you that it's not tricky to [keep the walkway open during construction]," he said.
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