Mandatory student activity fee faces upcoming campus-wide vote
Currently the student activity fee is $110. Between March 14 and 15, Oswego State students will have the opportunity to vote on whether or not this fee will be mandatory.
According to Nassir, every school has a student activity fee, but some schools determine the fee by credit hours while others, like Oswego State, have one flat rate.
It is SUNY mandated that all schools conduct a campus-wide vote every two years to determine whether or not the fee should be optional.
Oswego State students will receive an e-mail with a link to Laker Life where they will cast their vote of โyesโ or โno.โ This vote will coincide with the vote for the official vote for the president and vice president of SA.
Currently, the student activity fee is mandatory, allowing SA to determine their budget during the spring semester every year.
โWhile the fee is mandatory, we know we can count on that budget,โ Nassir said. โIf the fee were to be voted voluntary, there would be no way to predict how many people would be paying that fee or who would be paying that fee because it would be up to the students to decide when bills go out at the beginning of the semester. The budget would have to be halted until the beginning of the fall semester after we know how many people have paid their fee or not.โ
The SA student activity fee makes up SAโs budget that gets deviated throughout the year to the over 190 student-based clubs and organizations such as the SAVAC ambulance service and student media organizations.
โThere are a lot of services that our fee provides that students arenโt aware of,โ Nassir said. โOur fee goes way beyond the organizations that we represent.โ
Other than student organizations, the student activities fee supports other facets of student life, such as the campus shuttle service, Campus Recreation, free regular season hockey tickets, SA Programing Board programs and concerts.
โIf this gets voted voluntary and students donโt pay their fee then [those students] will not have access to the same things that fee-paying students will have access to,โ Nassir said.
For the past week, Student Association has been present in residence halls, used digital signage, made announcements at the senate meetings every week and had daily tabling in the Marano Campus Center to inform students about the referendum and encourage them to โvote yes.โ
โStudents should know about this because it will effect the culture of the campus,โ Nassir said.
According to Nassir, if the fee becomes voluntary, SA would most likely not be able to fully fund the majority of the organizations.
โIt would halter productivity in all of our student organizations to a very large extent,โ Nassir said.
Students like Megan Bortz agree and think that not many people will pay for the fee if it is voted voluntary.
โIt should be mandatory because it seems like if it is voluntary, I doubt that many people will contribute,โ Bortz said. โIt seems like it is the best way student do receive things they need,โ
Although students such as Edgar Solis and Joseph Sansone are not involved now, they plan to be and said they think the mandatory fee would be beneficial.
โI would vote yes because it is good to have all of these clubs on campus to allow students to get involved and all that,โ Sansone said. โI know there are people on campus that donโt like to get involved in different things, but I think it should be mandatory.โ
Solis said he would vote the student activity fee mandatory to continue support for student interests through clubs and organizations.
โIt gives a lot of students the option if they donโt join a sport to join a club and it is very useful especially as a transfer myself,โ Solis said. โTo meet new people and stay connected with the Oswego community as well as interact with people that like the same things as you do.โ
Nassir acknowledged the financial burden that some students may experience, but she joined SA to encourage students to educate themselves about what it would mean to vote for this referendum.
โIt is important because the college experience goes way beyond the classroom,โ Nassir said.
