Deferred decisions make for frighening fees

With IU Student Association elections freshly finished and IU strike coming up, it’s time we once again address one of the more complex and pressing concerns of students at IU: murky student fees.

Fees are charges you pay in addition to your tuition. They include an activity fee, a health fee, a technology fee and a transportation fee, among others.

These can add up to hundreds, or sometimes thousands, of dollars.

Since 2011, students have also been paying a temporary repair and rehab fee, $180 per term for those considered full-time.

The Board of Trustees will debate and approve a new budget this summer, and this “temporary” R&R fee is up for discussion.

We understand the need for rehabilitation of some campus buildings. That’s part of the normal upkeep of any college or university, and we’re willing to pay for it.

What we take issue with is the lack of clarity or a specific plan to deal with these things while using our money.

Because, if there is a plan, the University certainly hasn’t been very vocal about it.

An article ran in the Indiana Daily Student on March 29, 2013, titled “IU to defer repair projects, campus building maintenance.” It gave some background on the R&R fee, but IU’s predictions for the future of the R&R fee, and for funding of R&R in general, were frighteningly vague.

The R&R fee was implemented after state withdrawal of funding for these repairs.

Although there’s a bill set to pass through the Indiana Senate that might give R&R money to IU for the 2014-15 school year, it’s unclear whether students would still have to pay the fee. And that only accounts for one year’s worth of funding.

From Vice President for Capital Planning and Facilities Tom Morrison’s comments in the article, it seems IU has formulated no plan B while waiting on this bill. Or plan A. As of right now, it seems there’s no plan at all.

Or perhaps if there is one, IU doesn’t deign to let students know.

One reality we must face is the fact that state and public schools are no longer that public. More than 50 percent of IU’s funding now comes from student tuition and fees.

We think that means IU should be held a little more accountable to the people funding it.

We understand the need for fees.

However, if you’re going to charge us, have a reason.

Don’t make us pay without showing us a plan for how you’re going to use the money.

If we’re paying an R&R fee, but most repairs have been deferred, give us a good explanation of where the money we’re currently paying is going.

Be transparent. This principle should really apply to all tuition and student fees.

Moreover, make an effort to plan for these sorts of funding emergencies more than a year or two in advance.

Student money will likely continue to largely fund the University and its projects from now on.

We can no longer count on the state to solve our money crises. This essentially changes how IU should approach funding and execution of its projects.

Right now, for all we know, IU is just squirrelling our R&R fee away, waiting with bated breath to hear what the almighty state says, while some buildings literally crumble around us.

Don’t assume that students are uninterested in where our money’s going. If the federal government can keep complex records of its spending, surely the smart people here at IU can as well, and make them easy to find and understand.  

Better yet, ask us for suggestions.

After all, as universities are meant to serve students, it might be useful to involve us in your decisions.