What is the Student Activity Fee?
The Student Activity supports campus activities, student advocacy, and student organizations. It is one of six fees that all UMBC students pay each semester. Currently it is the lowest of all the fees at $78 per year or $4 per credit for part time students and is the only fee that hasn’t increased in the last 6 years. Please see the chart below to see a brief history of fee increases for all the student fees at UMBC. To see the details of all current fees for the Spring 2008 semester visit http://www.umbc.edu/sbs/tuition_spr
What does the Student Activity Fee fund?
The Student Activity Fee is directed by the Student Government Association and it funds over 250 student organizations and hundreds of events on campus. For example: Free Newspapers (Collegiate Readership Program), Homecoming, Stress Free Zone, DVD’s in the library, Quadmania, Involvement Fest, and large student events such as Jambo Night, Norouz, ASIA, PakSA Night and many. many more. For a full breakdown of the current SGA budget for FY 2009 please visit: http://sga.umbc.edu/budgets/FY%2009
What Referendum A is asking for?
Referendum A is the question of whether or not students support a $10 yearly increase in the Student Activity Fee.
Why does the Student Activity Fee need to be increased?
The Student Activity Fee hasn’t received a fee increase since 2003. Currently it is $39 per semester for full time students and $4 per credit for part time students. Over the last several years, the SGA has been operating at a deficit because of the large fund account that was built up due to conservative SGA spending from prior years. Since the 2006-2007 school year, the SGA has been spending more money than we have been bringing in due to increased demand for services. Obviously this situation cannot exist forever, either the fee must be increased or costs must be cut causing a reduction in student life. Also as time goes on due to increasing salary costs, inflation, and other items that SGA has become responsible for have caused SGA’s costs to rise. With this $5 per semester increase, we will be able to continue providing the services and events that campus demands.
Why Should I Support Referendum A?
You should support Referendum A if you support student life at UMBC. The Student Activity Fee is the only fee on campus that is student controlled. It also directly supports student life at UMBC. If you want to support student life you should support Referendum A.
What will happen if Referendum A fails?
If this doesn’t pass, many of these events and organizations will be significantly impacted. Not only would next year’s budget be seriously impacted with a number of cuts which include: a decrease in the student organizations budget, free newspapers (NY Times, Baltimore Sun, and USA Today) any future chance of another Prove It, funding for Welcome Week, Commuter events, and the Etiquette Banquet. The future of all organizations and events that depends on the Student Activity Fee will be in jeopardy. As new student organizations continue to be created and old ones expand, the demands for funding will only increase. Campus life is continually expanding as well. Without this increase, the support for this increased demand of student life will not be met and the current level of student life will decrease.
Vote for Referendum A
Thursday, April 9, 2009Posted by at 2:35 PM
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31 comments:
I heard that if the referandum succeds, then students will not be paying more. Instead, if the Student Activites Fee inceases, it will only take a bigger cut out of the general pool of mandatory fees already being paid. I can't remember where I heard this, but is it correct?
DONT vote for referendum A !!!
I dont know about every1 else, but I'd rather NOT pay extra.
People, this is common sense!
I would gladly pay 5 dollars a semester for the benefits given from keep SGA and all of the events and activities around campus going.
I feel like the ability to have quadmania, get bands to play, have movies screened on campus, have open mic nights, have any form of student representation, and have about a million other things is worth the price of a god damned sub.
Yes, I would like to not pay more, but I would honestly rather give money to SGA than to Reslife or Chartwells.
To anonymous, while it is common sense not to want to pay MORE for something, it does not mean that you don't have to pay for something at all. SGA requires money. Do you want our campus to have nothing going on ever?
I WILL VOTE AGAINST IT!!!
THE FEES ARE ALREADY OUTRAGEOUS HERE AT U.M.B.C.!
WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER INCREASE!!!
@ James,
Hey maybe you can gladly pay my $5 too?
And a $5 increase is most definitely NOT worth the price of most clubs.
Like I will pay for the really crappy activities that I don't participate in...
Agreed; how about we see the SGA do something worthwhile with the money they are already receiving before they take anymore?
Even if you do not ever attend a single SGA activity or join a single student organization, you still see the benfits of the Student Activity Fee.
Have you ever picked up a free copy of the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, or other newspaper around campus?
Have you ever read an article in the Retriever Weekly?
Have you ever borrowed one of those free DVD's from the library?
Did you attend the etiquette dinner run by career services?
Did you attend Welcome Week when you first entered UMBC?
Did you go to Quadmania?
Did you take those free busses up to Binghamton for the men's basketball conference tournament or the NCAA Tournament in Raleigh last year or to Binghamton for the Conference Championship game this year?
Did you get one of those yellow Growl Towels at the Conference championship game last year?
Have you been to any of the weekly movies that SEB shows?
Did you attend the Homecoming bonfire or any other Homecoming events?
Have you attended any of a number of pep rallies for our sports teams the past 2 years?
Have you ever been to the stress free zone during finals every semester for the alst several years?
Have you attended commuter week or the good morning communters events?
Have you attended involvement fest?
Did you ever use the Study Place before it became Chick Fil A?
Do you plan on attending May Graduates day when you graduate?
I can keep going but I think you get the point. The SGA either completely funds or partially funds everything written above plus more.
On top of that the SGA does much more than simply provide funding. Check out the current Projects page to view some other things we're working on: http://sga.umbc.edu/projects/
If all of this plus funding 200+ student organizations on campus isn't worth an extra $10 a year or $5 per semester to you, then perhaps you shouldn't vote for Referendum A.
cuz we dont pay enough already?
SGA should learn how to use what they have to the fullest instead of asking for more.
Also in response to those that SGA is asking for more money, if you haven't read the original post in full I can give you a short synapsis.
Yes we are asking for a nominal (as in an actual number increase) in the fee. However this fee hasn't increased in 6 years. In those 6 years, costs have risen substantially. Inflation, increases in CPI, mandatory salary increases, and SGA taking on the full cost of projects such as the Readership program (free newspapers) all add up. The $78 fee that SGA receives has substantially had less and less value every year since the fee last increased 6 years ago. We are asking for the real money value of the fee to be maintained.
We are not asking for money to do more projects, only to allow the SGA to continue providing the level of services that we currently provide.
Where is everyone voting anyway? Lol. Gotta love convenient omissions of information. Maybe I'm just out of the loop but I have never seen a place that was like "VOTE FOR IMPORTANT STUFF HERE".
It's not that much of an increase, however I don't really like being told whether to support something or not.
It's like the presidential elections. People should research the issues and why they want to vote someone in, become informed, then vote, as opposed to voting for something because a sign told you to. We should be telling people to become more informed and helping them understand it in objective manner, but I digress.
While I appreciate all the student activities available here at UMBC, charging the students a higher fee is NOT the right option!
Instead, maybe we should look at other student fees and ask ourself why they are so much higher compared to the Student Activity Fee?
I mean, what's up with the Athletics Fee almost 10 times higher than the Student Activities Fee? I personally don't care about Retrievers like that and don't use any of the sports facilities, and, honestly, we are not even anywhere near NCAA level for the most sports we're involved in! SO WHAT ARE WE PAYING FOR?!
Also, what's up with that "University Commons Fee" which is 6 times higher than the Students Activities Fee?! What exactly are we paying for? My understanding was that this fee was supposed to cover most student activities taking place at the Commons building (which means most activities you guys are talking about would be taken care of, right?)
Or what's up with that "Transportation Fee" which is 4 times higher than the Student Activities Fee? I don't really understand, WHO and WHERE are we transporting? I commute here on my own car, and so do most of my friends. Many other people I know simply live on campus & don't need any transportation! So, again, I have to ask WHAT ARE WE PAYING FOR?!
So, the bottom line is that I personally think SGA should first talk to UMBC about reevaluating some of their billing practices & giving the student activity fees some more importance compared to other fees we are currently paying. I'm not saying that the other fees are absolutely not needed, but they could definitely be slightly reduced before any increase in the Student Activities Fee, so that in the end the students didn't have to pay more & more & more...
I agree with Adriana.
I will support referendum A if SGA decided to eliminate the transportation fee. It's something like $200 a semester, correct?
Like the 4:09 pm anonymous, I'm wondering how and when we actually vote.
Who thinks of these "current projects"? They are high school grade activities with little or no effort. Perform some sort of fund raisers if you need some money. Or would you not get any support because the benefits it provides are not worth it?
David, most of those activities are mild and are basic perks for every college.
People...this stuff has to get paid for somehow. For a fee to not have increased in six years is weird as it is. But without the extra money the SGA's hands are tied. Some says that things like a school newspaper, welcome week, and quadmania are perks every college has. How would people react if they were taken away? they would be upset. Whether or not YOU would be upset is beside the point. Vote yes. Give them the extra ten dollars a year. I hear people complain about how the SGA doesn't do enough on campus, but then they don't want to give them the money to do more stuff. You people are picking the wrong thing to get upset about.
Remember - it's not about you. It's about what's best for the group. You go to UMBC. Not to the University of You. Save the money you would spend on a meal or two at Chick-Fil-A and pay the fee. Get over it.
more fees? looks like we'll have to steal some more laptops again...
so about voting.
when? where?
does the author of this know?
Actually, I agree with some previous posters who asked if we can first lower the Athletic Fee and put the difference into the Student Activity Fee.
I mean, what's the point of charging this sky-high athletic fees here? Unlike UMCP, it's not like UMBC was ever particularly known for being a strong sports school or anything...
Even if the extra money goes for the newspapers and random etiquette dinners, there is no other activities that would grab any major group of students' attention in this place. I feel like I am going to a community college, but you know, even there, they had better activities that at the least, helped in academics.
And one last thing, SGA!..
I just wanted you guys to know I respect and appreciate what u guys are doing, and I personally regularly take advantage of many activities going on here on campus!
...But I also hope ya all realize that if such referendum would ever take place, most students would vote AGAINST it! Not because they don't appreciate your work, but simply because THEY DON'T WANT TO PAY ANY MORE MONEY in this difficult financial times. And I can certainly relate to them. Believe it or not, I have to work two (!) jobs (one full-time and one part-time) just to be able to pay for my tuition, room, and all those other fees...
So is there any way to solve this problem without charging us those higher fees? Instead, perhaps, we could solve it by talking to whoever runs UMBC (Mr. Hrabowski and his associates?) and asking them to provide the Student Activities Fee a bigger cut out of general pool of mandatory fees already being paid?
I think this is what majority of students want. And SGA is supposed to represent us, simple students, right?!
Thank You and have a nice day!
Voting takes place on Blackboard on April 20-22.
Make those that use the services pay. I am a part-time commuter student who is focused on getting an education, not doing some hide the potato game on my time off. Why should I pay for you all to screw off? And I have little faith in that impotent organization known as Student Government, as we all can see education is not their focus (failing grades, etc).
@David Indek: No, I haven't done any of the things that you've listed. I live off campus, at home, 15 miles away. I don't have time for any of these activities, because believe it or not, I have schoolwork to do. I don't even attend the ones that wouldn't conflict with my schoolwork because I hate big parties and other such social events. I'm at UMBC to learn. That's all.
@Adriana: I agree with you for the most part. But I'm suspicious that the Commons fee goes mostly for the upkeep of the actual building. There are people working there the entire day cleaning up after us, and considering that at least half the student body hangs out there at some point during the day, there's a lot of wear and tear on all the stuff in the Commons too. As for the other fees, I agree, what gives here?
SGA is a joke.
PLEASE VOTE AGAINST REFERENDUM 'A'
I think SGA is using this referendum to avoid facing the fact that it needs to cut extraneous programs. Why should I pay more every semester to support programs no one likes or uses?
I can't say I've ever agreed with the student activities fee. It's basically an extra tax on all students to support groups and views they may not all support or participate in. They're basically forced to pay to support whatever groups are already established. The government can't even do that without a vote from the legislature (aka taxation without representation).
I can't exactly support this.
SGA, I love you. I really do. But its like trying to vote for more taxes.
I'm sorry, I'm not going to vote for it, even if the $10 goes somewhere else.
Won't vote for Referendum A. Our student activities are a complete joke anyways.
i already voted against it. HAVE YOU?
I want to thank everyone for their support and comments. I am proud to say that Referendum A passed with nearly 70%
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