Disclaimer: Orange Media Network is a part of Student Experiences and Engagement and will be participating in these meetings as an organization.
Correction: The previous version of the story included wrong phrasing about ASOSU student tickets in SFC. The correct phrasing, is “this year, ASOSU is working with Athletics to make more student tickets.”
Deciding where all the money goes, Jan. 20 marks the kickoff of student fee deliberations with the Student Fee Committee at the Associated Students of Oregon State University.
According to Matteo Paola, he SFC chair for ASOSU, the SFC helps to allocate incidental fees paid by students to the eight different student fee-funded units. Those units include ASOSU, Intercollegiate Athletics, Memorial Union, Recreational Sports, Basic Needs Center, Family Resource Center, Student Experiences and Engagement and Performing Arts.
The committee will meet Jan. 20 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to listen to budget presentations in the Memorial Union Horizon Room. They meet again on Jan. 25, from 5-8 p.m, for the first deliberation. Their last meeting will be Feb. 1, from 5-8 p.m., for final deliberations in the MU main lounge.
Student advisory boards from each unit have made budget proposals that will be presented at the first meeting. These proposals can be found on the SFC webpage.
Should all budget proposals and decision packages be approved by the committee, the student incidental fee could increase from $505.46 per term to $527.96, a 4.45% increase for the 2024-2025 year according to Paola.
Students are encouraged to attend all deliberations and meetings to voice their concerns or opinions. According to Paola, if students can only attend one meeting, the last will be the best as it will include final deliberations and a final vote.
“It’s sort of like the last chance to get any input in if you have anything,” Paola said.
This year, a new decision package is being brought forward by ASOSU that will help make student tickets available for the next year’s seasons, especially football.
“So this year, one of the ASOSU president’s priorities is to enter into a contract or agreement with athletics in the hopes of getting additional student tickets for football games, because they tend to run out,” Paola said.
According to Paola, OSU Athletics usually gets about three percent of their funding from the student incidental fee and in return get student tickets. ASOSU is attempting to merge athletics into their budget, up the percentage and make more student tickets available.
Along with that, there is also a move to increase budgets for each unit in order to increase student wages across campus from a minimum of $16.38 and $16.65, according to Paola.
This comes from a move of the ASOSU senate vote last term to increase student wages. If the SFC decides to fund that wage increase, the total increase to incidental fees could be 4.7%.
Once the SFC votes on budget proposals and decision packages, the ASOSU senate will vote before it goes to Carissa O’Donnell, ASOSU president.
