Senate Resolution 167-020 No Unjustified Fee Increases

Whereas, Students of the University of Alaska Fairbanks should not be required to pay fees by the administration or its departments if a fee can not be fully justified by that department; Whereas, Such and unjustified fee would be any of those that are imposed without offering an increase of services to the students of this University or that exceeded the amount that is normally collected at schools of comparable standing without strong reasons supporting such an amount; Whereas, The fee proposal of $65 per semester submitted by the UAF Department of Athletics would not be justifiable to the student body because it lacks any real increases in services in relation to the amount asked for, nor will it realistically be a service for many members of the student body; Whereas, The amount of $65 dollars is nearly double that is collected from schools in our conference and system; Whereas, The dramatic amount difference seems to be due to the smaller student body of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in comparison to the schools such as the University of Alaska Anchorage; Whereas, The size of the deficit reported from the Department of Athletics is approximately $576,000 with the intended revenue of this fee being approximately $572,000; Whereas, The above figures lead this government to the conclusion that it is the expectation of the Department of Athletics that the student body should bear the burden of this budgetary shortfall; Whereas, There is no justification given for why this fee should be incorporated into the Student Life Fee instead of being its own stand alone fee allowing students to see why more money is required for their attendance at the University of Alaska Fairbanks; Whereas, It has been the view of the government that no student should be required to pay for another to attend this institution; and Whereas, This resolution is not meant to show a lack of support for the department itself, but rather the belief of this Association that the student body does not believe that a fee of $65 to support the Department of Athletics is justifiable in its present form; now, therefore be it Resolved, That ASUAF is opposed to this proposed fee increase of $65 by the UAF Athletics Department; and be it further Resolved, That it is the view of this Association of the student body that if the administration goes forward with initiating this or any other fee for supporting the Department of Athletics that no funds raised from this fee be used for scholarships as no UAF student should pay for another to go to school but instead the fee be used for the betterment of the program as a whole and providing better services to the student body; and be it further Resolved, That if any fee is collected from the student body for the Department of Athletics that in addition to the services currently offered that students have free admission to games in the Patty Center, and that a comprehensive policy for admission for students to the Carlson Center games be put together so that no student be required to pay for admission to any home Nanook event;