By: Jade Rayner News Editor
The Incidental Fee Committee held their preliminary budget decision meetings for the 2017-2018 school year on Friday, Feb. 10 and Friday, Feb. 17. As of now, the projected incidental fee cost for the 2017-2018 school year is $345 per term, a 1.17 percent increase from the current school year. As part of that fee, the Health and Wellness Center cost per term will remain unchanged at $67.
Incidental fees are used to pay for on campus organizations including, but not limited to, Abby’s House, Athletics, WOLF Ride and Service Learning and Career Development. A total of $4,376,199 will be made from those fees for the 2016-2017 school year, and it is estimated to raise up to $4,437,195 for the 2017-2018 academic year.
Preliminary decision meetings consist of the IFC setting the tentative budgets for on-campus organizations and events before open hearings begin. Once open hearings begin, individuals can make a case on behalf of their organization for additional or continued funding, if necessary.
In addition to setting the base budgets, enhancements were also discussed. When a club or organization on campus is asking for an enhancement, they are requesting additional funding beyond their budget for a specific event, trip or job that is needed.
The largest projected budget cut for the upcoming academic year is going to ASWOU, with a 10 percent decrease, which is much smaller than a previously proposed 18 percent cut. Part of the reason behind the large budget cut is the confusion about what exactly ASWOU accomplishes for students through their day to day operations. The cut will be reflected by taking their requested budget of $294,821 down to $265,339.
Another organization whose necessity was discussed was the Creative Arts department, specifically the Smith Fine Art Series. IFC members criticized the program because of the imbalance between how much students are paying for the series and the lack of student attendance at the events. The series will be facing an 11 percent cut, which will take the $329,541 budget they asked for and leave them with $322,891.
Organizations that are proposed to receive enhancements are ASWOU, specifically the Student Veterans of America, Campus Recreation and Student Engagement.
Students who would like to make a case to the IFC on behalf of a club or organization may do so at the second open hearing this Friday, Feb. 24 from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. in the Werner University Center. The first open hearing took place on Tuesday, Feb. 21 from 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. Individuals are allotted three minutes to speak; groups receive five minutes.
More information about the IFC process, including policies and meeting minutes, can be found at wou.edu/ifc.
Contact the author at journalnews@wou.edu
