In this year’s SGA elections, UMBC student voters approved Referendum A to increase the annual student activity fee from $78 to $88. It turns out that the activity fee will not be the only increase students will experience on their bills for academic year 2010-2011, according to information from the SGA, available at: http://sga.umbc.edu/finances/forms/Mandatory_fee_proposals_for_student_fee_forum_2011.pdf
All fee increases in total for fiscal year 2011 will come to an additional $104 from what students pay now. Students will absorb these proposed new fees in light of the increasing costs of running the university, manifested most notably to students in the increase of the activity fee. However, that was a fee increase approved by UMBC’s student body, but the other proposed increases (in the fields of Athletics, Facilities, the Commons, Transportation, and Technology) are not subject to student approval.
Students may wonder why these fees increase steadily each year, forcing upon them $2,492 (according to figures provided by the SGA) of fees on top of tuition and other costs of higher education. To answer these questions, there will be an SGA-hosted forum on the matter to be held on Monday, May 4, at 12:15pm in the Student Org space on the second floor of the Commons. At this forum, representatives of each of the departments that will reflect a fee increase will be present to help students understand why their bills will see an increase once again and to field student queries on the issue, according to Steve Gilmore.
