Committee gives proposal for ’08, ’09 student fees

The student-led Committee for Fee Review released a report Wednesday with recommendations through 2009, focusing heavily on health center and transportation fee increases. \nStudent fees decreased this year, primarily a result of ending a $15 athletics fee. However, under next year’s proposal, they will increase by 5.2 percent and another 3.7 percent in 2009. This follows University trustees relinquishing a student fees increase cap. \nThe area likely to witness the highest fee increase over the next few years could be the IU Health Center. This year, students pay about $93 annually for health center fees. By 2009, those fees will have increased to more than $112. Although this increase will amount only to about a $19 difference per student, the committee calculated that this could bring more than $1 million extra each year for the health center. \nSuch increases could mean much needed help for the \nhealth center, which has experienced inadequate funding over the past several years, said Paul Rohwer, the Committee’s \nco-chair. \nLow funding at the health center has meant below-average pay for nurses and doctors at the health center over the past several years. Because of this, Rohwer said the center has had trouble hanging onto \nneeded employees. \nCoupled with rising salaries, Rohwer said the increase, which is only about half of what the health center had initially requested, will combat steadily rising health care costs. \n“This is the committee recognizing the need to have the health center,” said \nsophomore Anthony Smith,a member of the Committee.\nWith rising health center costs at the forefront of Committee discussions, another area to receive a more thorough review by the students was campus transportation. With about a $4 increase per student by 2009, the Committee encouraged hiring more student bus drivers, while at the same time increasing the wage of current campus bus drivers. Rohwer said the Committee was “surprisingly concerned” about University bus services – citing examples of bus drivers simply not \nshowing up for scheduled driving shifts.\n“It’s unacceptable for students not to get to class in the morning because someone did not show up to work,” he said. \nFor the first time next year, a portion of student fees will be allocated to financially reviving the struggling Indiana Memorial Union. The IMU will still receive less than $3 from each student by 2009 under the recommendation, but Smith called these modest allotments a test period for \nthe IMU. \nThese new fees will come nowhere close to working the University sector out of the red zone, Rohwer said, but will allow the IMU to keep rent for space reserved in the building’s Student Activities Tower at about $1 per square foot.\nRecommendations from the Committee for Fee Review will next face scrutiny by the University Dean of Students Dick McKaig, IU President \nAdam Herbert and finally the IU trustees. \nSmith, the IPFW sophomore, said that University administrators or trustees rarely \nquestion the Committee’s decision. Still, Rohwer seemed worried that trustees would attempt to nix the proposed fee increases. These concerns might be validated by some trustees’ \nrecent desire to limit student service spending. Smith said a belief by trustees that much of this spending was wasteful was the root of this desire. Rohwer saw this spending rise \nnot as glut, but rather necessary.\n“We have a responsibility to ensure that student services stay at similar levels or improve,” he said.