Since Duke Student Government announced its proposed student activities fee increase last week, student leaders are examining the scope and importance of the policy and its timeline for consideration.
"The student activities fee is our single biggest responsibility," said DSG President Jordan Giordano, a senior. "It's bigger than lobbying, bigger than [the Student Organization Finance Committee], bigger than anything else we have ever done. This is honestly the only thing we have actual control over."
The DSG Executive Board submitted the proposal in the form of a letter to the student body in The Chronicle Tuesday, asking students to approve a referendum Sept. 15 that will increase the student activities fee over the course of two years. Giordano noted that in order for the increase to go into effect, it will need to be put before the Board of Trustees at their next meeting, making a September referendum the only feasible option.
If the referendum passes, the fee-currently $222 per year-will increase by $50 to $272 for the 2009-2010 academic year, and then another $50 to $322 for the 2010-2011 academic year.
In the past week, some campus leaders have expressed concern over the time frame they have until the referendum to debate and discuss issues surrounding an increase. After speaking to a former leader of North Carolina State University's Student Union, Duke University Union President Chamindra Goonewardene, a senior, said he discovered that a similar initiative there took almost three years of planning.
"It's not about [DUU] getting more money," he said. "I just don't think it's well-thought-out, and I don't think two weeks is an acceptable time period for a proposal of this nature to be talked about and to be voted upon."
DSG plans to use the money from the increase to fund a rapidly growing number of student groups as well as three major initiatives: ZipCars car-rental service and a bus-tracking system-an estimated $150,000 and $80,000 up front for the first year, respectively-and a $150,000-per-year attorney for students.
According to Bursar's statements, the student activities fee was $398 a year in 2006 before it was split into the student activities fee and the student services fee in 2007. In two years, the total of both fees has increased to $454, approximately a 14 percent difference. If the referendum passes, the total fees will increase by an additional 22 percent by the 2010-2011 academic year.
The Chronicle reported in March 2006 that the student activities fee took a 45 percent jump in the 2006-2007 school year to account for an administrative fee increase of $100 proposed by the Office of Student Affairs.
In past years, Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta granted a number of student requests for additional funding out of a discretionary budget that he manages. But former SOFC Chair Alex Crable, a senior, said he thinks DSG did not initially ask Moneta for the money because the amount is beyond the scope of what they have received in the past.
Even after contacting University administrators like Provost Peter Lange and Steve Nowicki, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education, DSG had little luck acquiring additional funding, said Black Student Alliance President Brandon Roane, a senior.
Moneta said his discretionary budget is small and is only tapped into for new and creative ideas or extenuating circumstances.
"It's not a lot of money in my budget, but a little stationary money that can support and is reserved for a great startup idea and critical need," he said. "But the funding I have is limited-it's not a specific sum that's for student funding."
In 2006, at DSG's request, Executive Vice President Tallman Trask granted $15,000 to fund bartenders, decreasing the price of University-funded beer by more than 50 percent at the "wave of a hand," said former DSG president Elliott Wolf, Trinity '08.
"Jordan and [Executive Vice President Sunny Kantha] haven't developed a good enough relationship with administrators for the hand-waving," he said. "They're falling back and trying to tax the students, even though the time would be spent a hell of a lot better to try and convince administrators with gobs and gobs of money."
Wolf said he did not consider increasing the fee during his term because administrators were able to grant funding. Trask did not respond to a request for comment.
"The key fallback position for students is, 'We have no money. You two-billion-dollar University should fund it because a big part of your mission is supporting us,'" Wolf said. "If DSG down the road decides it cannot be funded to pass [funding] on to students, it's a dangerous bureaucratic position-it undermines the bigger things that DSG pushes through."
Wolf noted that during his term, DSG eliminated a proposed $400 dining fees increase, adding that student representatives have to "bargain" with administrative policymakers, especially when they can argue that student government has little funding beyond what is used to fund student groups.
Still, Giordano said increasing the student activities fee is the only way to acquire this funding because DSG has never asked for such a large amount before.
"Any time this type of money was needed, this is the way it's been funded," he said. "However we fund it, the question is, 'Are these good things to fund?' and I think they are. It is in the school's best interest to have all these things happen-the whole Duke community benefits from this."
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