Editor’s Note (1/30/2024): This story has been updated to correct Joe Page’s position, which is “a member of the Athletics Student advisory board.” It has also been updated to reflect the non-binding vote which reallocates the Intercollegiate Athletics budget to ASOSU, its purpose to purchase tickets to Beaver athletic events. 

Editor’s note: Orange Media Network, with which The Daily Barometer is affiliated, is involved in the student fees deliberations process.

Student fees are going up. 

The extent of the increase is not yet determined. 

Preliminary budget requests for student incidental fee-funded units were moved forward after a non-binding vote by the Student Fee Committee on Saturday. 

Included in the SFC’s meeting was a non-binding vote to reallocate the Intercollegiate Athletics budget to the Associated Students of OSU, for the purpose of purchasing student tickets to Beaver athletic events, according to ASOSU President Carissa O’Donnell. 

Student fees, which stood at $505.46 in the 2023-2024 school year, are currently slated to increase to $515.11 with the SFC’s current non-binding proposals, with respect to budget requests, which were approved Saturday. 

This represents a 1.91% increase from the previous school year. Increases are not finalized and are likely to go higher.

These matters were discussed by the SFC as they met and approved their budget request. A second round of deliberations will take place on Thursday and include non-binding votes on decision packages. 

Decision packages are requests for additional funding beyond current budgets. These votes are also non-binding.

Speaking for the segments of the university were representatives from Student Advisory Boards, along with faculty and university staff who are employed by their respective departments.

The SFC voted on, at the request of Intercollegiate Athletics, the transfer of the purchasing of student tickets from Intercollegiate Athletics to ASOSU. If the change is enacted, then ASOSU will be responsible for negotiating ticket prices and the number of student tickets available for students to purchase for various sporting events, such as football and basketball.

Intercollegiate Athletics requested the change as a function of frustration over budget negotiations with the SFC in past years, according to Joe Page, a member of the Athletics Student advisory board.

Page said that for students looking to purchase tickets for sporting events that little, if anything, will be different on their parts when purchasing tickets as Oregon State Athletics will still distribute the tickets.

New to the budget request process was the funding of student tickets at the Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts, which would allow for students to purchase tickets at the reduced price of five dollars per event, versus the nominal price of $25 or more for concerts or performances at OSU’s new facility. Such pricing would allow OSU to operate low-cost art galleries, like other institutions of higher education, such as Willamette University, which does not charge students for admission to the Hallie Ford Museum of Art.

On Feb. 1, the SFC will hold binding votes on the budgets to be submitted for approval by the ASOSU Senate. After review by the ASOSU Senate, the final budget proposal will be sent to ASOSU president Carissa O’Donnell for signing, then to OSU President Jayathi Murthy for signing and finally to the OSU Board of Trustees for ratification.

Among the groups presenting to the SFC, Student Experience requested a budget of $108.82 per student per term, Recreational Sports requested $124.64, Memorial Union requested $91.04, Performing Arts requested $8.68, ASOSU requested $74.49, Basic Needs Center requested $21.64 and the Family Resource Center requested $19.90. Included in ASOSU’s request is the approximately $45 typically allocated to Intercollegiate athletics. 

The total of these requests amounts to $515.11, a slight increase from the previous school year. 

Some of the decision packages, which are funded by student fees, represent potential increases to student wages in different areas of the university.

Student fees act to fund student groups and campus activities, such as clubs and OSU’s Adventure Leadership Institute, which allows students to travel around Oregon and Experience outdoor endeavors such as kayaking, hiking, zip lining and rafting. 

More information will be available after Thursday’s deliberations.