The AS Student Senate during their meeting on Friday, Nov. 22. Joe Addison // AS Review
By Stella Harvey
Tuition and Fees Revision, response to COVID-19 Pandemic
In an emergency meeting on April 7, the Associated Students Student Senate passed a resolution advocating for Western’s administration to revise tuition and fees with a vote of 15 in favor, three against, and none abstaining. The resolution comes in response to all spring quarter classes being moved online as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The resolutions request that Western refund 10% of spring tuition to account for the lost four days of classes, for the administration to continue supporting students facing food and housing insecurity as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and to waive late payment fees on tuition and fees for spring quarter. The senate specified that the 10% tuition refund should not infringe on the salaries of any Western faculty or staff.
The senate’s resolution will be distributed to faculty, staff and Western’s administration.
Reasonable Accommodations and Asynchronous Course Instruction
The senate also passed a resolution with a vote of 18-0-0 advocating for all classes to be made accessible asynchronously. The resolution states that requiring synchronous participation puts students who are experiencing hardships, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, at a disadvantage.
The senate’s resolution advocates for professors and instructors to make reasonable accommodations for students who can not meet during synchronous class times, such as out-of-state students, students who do not have continuous access to a computer or WiFi and students experiencing mental health challenges.
The senate’s resolution will be distributed to faculty, staff and the administration.
Student Senate Regular Public Forum
During the senate meeting on April 7, Fourth-year Student Sanai Anang gave a presentation on a potential program titled the Coronacrisis Mitigation Fund, which would seek to support graduating seniors as they enter the workforce in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The senate endorsed the future project with a vote of 13 in favor, five against and none abstaining.
AS Services and Activities Fee
In an emergency meeting on April 6, the senate endorsed the Finance Council’s recommendation to reduce the AS’s portion of the Services and Activities fee with a vote 18 in favor and zero against and abstaining. The Finance Council recommended that the AS portion of the spring quarter Services and Activities fee be reduced from $81 to $12 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial strain it has put on students and their families.
During a different emergency meeting on April 6, the Executive Board also endorsed the Finance Council’s recommendation. On April 7, Western’s Board of Trustees accepted the Finance Council’s recommendation and reduced the Services and Activities fee by a total of 47.8%. The Board of Trustees reduced all student fees by 28.6%.
The Services and Activities fee is one student fee that students pay each quarter with their tuition. The Services and Activities fee supports campus recreation programs, department activities like student publications and the AS. The AS normally receives about 35% of the quarterly Services and Activities fee.
Business director and Chair of the Finance Council Nate Jo presented the council’s recommendation to reduce the AS’s portion of the Services and Activities fee by 85%. Jo explained that the Finance Council considered reducing fees up to 50-100% during two emergency meetings.
Jo said that the council decided to recommend an 85% reduction in the AS portion of the Services and Activities fee in order to relieve some of the financial strain currently on students and save a portion of the AS Operating Reserves. The AS Operating Reserves is a cumulation of AS funds that are reserved for emergencies where there is a significant reduction of income. In order to continue supporting all AS student staff and maintain minimal virtual programming through spring quarter, the AS will use some of the funding from the AS Operating Reserves to make up for the reduced income as a result of lowering the Service and Activities fee.
Jo said that Western’s administration is projecting a 5-10% reduction in enrollment for fall quarter, which would lead to another reduction in income for the AS. In order to preserve AS Operating Reserves funds for the future, Jo said the Finance Council decided on a large, but not complete reduction of the Services and Activities fee for spring quarter.