Mount Hood

Press Release: IFC fee autonomy is a win for student voices

President Johnson outlines IFC’s success against obstruction and clears up misinformation about the Incidental Fee

NJ Johnson | ASWOU President

Dear Campus Community,

The ASWOU Incidental Fee Committee will be charging a flat student incidental fee of $150 for winter term to all WOU students and President Fuller has confirmed that this will be collected by the University. This fee funds vital resources and programming such as the food pantry, student government, multicultural groups, and activities-based clubs which, during this pandemic, remain just as essential to the success and well-being of WOU students as ever.

I would like to thank the hundreds of students who took part by giving feedback in this process. While our campus community is a vibrant and diverse group of individuals with different perspectives, the overwhelming sentiment we heard was that students wanted us to protect funding for student jobs, access to the food pantry, multicultural groups and resource centers, student government, and activity-based clubs.

Just as they did earlier this year regarding Fall term’s incidental fee, President Fuller and his office attempted to obstruct this student led, democratic process this term. We filed an appeal with the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, and soon after, Administration officially recognized ASWOU’s fee autonomy regarding our right to fund these student led programs and resources. Amidst a host of other attacks on the rights of our faculty, staff, and students coming from President Fuller, this acknowledgement of the student voice is a huge win for this year.

Given some of the false information that President Fuller’s staff has been directed to spread to students, we wanted to provide some factual context regarding the student incidental fee.  First, this fee is less than the original fee that the vast majority of students would have paid were it not for social distance learning.

Second, while administration has targeted graduate students with the false assertion that this is a change to the structure of fees that Graduate students pay, the fact is that there is no change to whether graduate students take part in paying the incidental fee and are able to benefit from these paces and services it provides. Graduate students are often exploited by administration both as students and as workers, we acknowledge this unique circumstance and reiterate that we as ASWOU are here to fight for your rights and interests.

Third, this fee is the only amount of money you pay into WOU that students have democratic control over. We share the student body’s concerns regarding the cost of tuition and fees at WOU; a large amount of the work ASWOU does is in advancing legislative initiatives to combat the cost of attendance at WOU. Because of our commitment to fighting to keep the cost of attendance at WOU down, we have directed the Oregon Student Association to introduce legislation which will increase transparency and regulation around all fees that students pay, both the incidental fee and the large host of other fees which students currently have no democratic control over.

We encourage students to get involved in the incidental fee process in the upcoming terms through attending our hearings, filling out the survey forms we send out, and contacting ASWOU officials, whose email addresses can be found here. Information and updates can be found on ASWOU social media and wou.edu/ifc. We also ask students interested in more transparency around the large amount of fees charged to students at WOU to get involved this winter in working to pass state-level legislation which would better regulate student fees at public universities and colleges in Oregon. If you would like to be involved in the statewide student effort to pass legislation which regulates student fees, please contact Oregon Student Association at andrew@orstudents.org for info on how to do so.

Make no mistake that more work lies ahead to protect the legal autonomy students must retain in the process of assessing and distributing incidental fees. The overwhelming majority of students have expressed to us the importance of protecting the areas funded by the incidental fee and the rights students hold over this process. ASWOU will continue to ensure that students are kept updated on these matters and encourage every student to engage in the process for Spring 2021 and the 2021-22 academic year. Remember that when students are heard, students win.

For more information, contact ASWOU President NJ Johnson by emailing at aswoupresident@mail.wou.edu or by phone at (503) 838-8555

ASWOU makes a million dollar deal with WOU administration

Administration denies ASWOU the ability to collect IFC fees, instead offering a one million dollar stimulus

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

Across Oregon, many universities are converting a majority of in-person classes to online due to COVID-19, Western is one of them. On Aug. 18, a group designated as the “reopening committee” voted in favor of Western holding 95% of its classes online. 

Based on the Tuition & Fees for the 2020 to 2021 academic year, student governed fees — such as Incidental Fees — could not be applied on the fall bill. At the time of approval, fee application was dependent on course delivery. If a student does not attend an in-person class on campus, then the fee would not be applied to their bill.

As a result of the online conversion, the Incidental Fee Committee estimated collecting only 5% of their anticipated 1.9 million dollar budget for fall term.

“I was on the committee … designed to reopen campus in a safe way, but I was the only student on that committee,” said senior public policy and administration major and ASWOU President N.J Johnson, “When we were putting together the email announcement…about classes being online I had expressed my concerns.” 

Johnson stated that the email indicated online students wouldn’t be paying a fee. He went on, saying he voiced to the reopening committee that the IFC was not consulted. Johnson said he was outvoted by other members of the reopening committee, resulting in no online students being charged incidental fees.

In the days following the email announcement, the IFC Steering Committee — a group tasked with reviewing and changing IFC bylaws — met on Aug. 31 to take action in response to the reopening committee’s decisions.

“We made two amendments to the bylaws,” said junior communications major and IFC member Makana Waikiki. “One of them was to allow a Special Committee to meet and it also specified who would be a part of the committee.” 

Waikiki voices how the committee felt it important to have more than one student in a room making decisions.

The second amendment gave the IFC control over defining what a fee paying student is. It is considered by the committee to be a historic change.

“We haven’t had the power to define a fee-paying student (until) recently,” said junior philosophy and English double major and IFC Member Nick Denning, “which is absolutely integral in us charging online students.”

After the bylaws were passed by the Steering Committee, the newly formed Special Committee sent out a petition to the student body, asking if they wanted to have a fee applied on the fall bill to fund the 15 programs covered by the IFC. On Sept. 2 the Special Committee convened to discuss applying applying a flat rate fee of $250. During the meeting Denning revealed the petition sent out by the Special Committee received over 300 signatures. Currently Western has 4,164 students registered for classes. 

On the same day of the Special Committee’s first meeting, Johnson reported he was contacted by President  Rex Fuller.

During their discussion , Fuller offered a one million dollar stimulus from the $53 per credit online tech fee approved back in April. According to the Business office the online tech fee is not new. In April when the Board of Trustees were finalizing billing, they took the difference of online tuition  — $228  —  and Oregon residency tuition  — originally $176 before the 4.55% increase in April — increased it by $1 and made it a separate fee for bill transparency.  According to Fuller, the $53 was originally intended for Western’s new Learning Management System called Canvas. However due to COVID-19, Western  entered a contract with Canvas that is funded by the CARES act until the end of 2020.

“Due to the unique situation of Fall 2020 being almost 95% online, I offered to ASWOU a $1M allocation of online course fee revenue to ease the revenue shortfall,” Fuller explained.

After talking with Fuller, Johnson said that he told the Special Committee about the million dollar deal immediately. However, the minutes from the Special Committee’s first gathering discussed applying a temporary flat rate fee of $250, and did not mention the conversation between President Fuller and ASWOU President Johnson. 

Although they were offered a million dollars, Johnson explained the fee application was still requested.

“We had two reasons we wanted to apply a fee,” said Johnson, “The first reason is to have a recognized student government.” 

The second reason Johnson cited for fee application was precedence.

“It’s about having your decision … through (the) proper process as stated in the IFC bylaws. We thought it was important … that those decisions were recognized.” he stated.

On Sept. 23, ASWOU posted a press release claiming the Board of Trustees were asked to meet in September to review the fee being discussed by the Special Committee. However, the Board affirmed they wouldn’t meet till Nov. 18.

“Chair Komp and President Fuller said it wasn’t advisable at the time. Because we have the million dollars from the tech fee that would buy us enough time to solve this problem collaboratively,” recalled Johnson.

In order to work with the Board of Trustees, ASWOU lowered the original $250 fee to $50 because the million dollar offer funded more than 51% of the IFC’s budget. Even so, ASWOU still wanted to establish precedence and the student body government as a legitimate power on campus.

Johnson went on to say that the Board of Trustees still did not want to meet, citing that they felt it would be better to apply a fee in the winter and spring. 

After being denied consultation, on Sept. 14 ASWOU submitted an appeal to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, requesting a third party to evaluate the administrative rejection process of ASWOU’s request to collect incidental fees. 

Negotiations regarding the million-dollar agreement spanned two days following the Sept. 14 HECC appeal.

On Sept. 16, ASWOU and WOU admin reached an agreement; the three terms of the agreement were not released to the IFC funded area heads until Sept. 17. In the joint email sent by Fuller and Johnson, the three conditions of the agreement were as follows.

First, the University will assess fall term fees based on the course modality of classes offered. For remote/online classes, a technology fee will be assessed while the incidental fee will be assessed on all face-to-face courses. 

Second, the university will provide one million dollars from the tech fee and the remaining funds will be drawn from student reserves. 

Third, ASWOU would drop its appeal to HECC.

ASWOU complied to secure the million-dollar stimulus for the IFC funded areas. After the deal, the IFC received 61% of their projected funds. 

Currently, all areas are being funded 25% or more and the IFC does not intend to apply fees this fall. 

Johnson says that the full IFC will be meeting to discuss what took place this the fall in preparation for winter and spring term. More information will be released when there are developments in the story.

UPDATE (OCT. 28TH, 2020 @ 2:09PM)

For fall term, students did not see an Incidental fee on their billing statements. As a result, IFC was not able to fund the areas it covers until ASWOU President N.J Johnson and Western’s President Rex Fuller made a million dollar deal giving the IFC 52% of their previously anticipated $1.9 million budget. However, the deal was made with the intent to fund the IFC for fall term.

“The online course fee is not designed, as a general proposition, to supplement incidental fees,” said Fuller. “Due to the unique situation of fall 2020 being almost 95% online, I offered to ASWOU a $1M allocation of online course fee revenue to ease the revenue shortfall to support student services funded by incidental fees.”

The IFC met on Oct. 22 to discuss plans going forward. The committee decided to make decisions only for winter term due to the money being unknown so far in the future, feeling it was better to take it term by term, and being able to effectively allocate funds to what best serves students. Currently, all seven IFC area heads are being asked to be prepared to present a 50% budget proposal at their next meeting on Oct. 29.

For the budget proposal, areas are being asked to base 50% funding off of last year’s allocation. In addition to running cost estimation, each department is being asked to present a brief presentation on where the money is going and what has been prioritized in their budgets. The IFC did not give the areas restrictions on what the budget can or can’t be used for.

At this time, President Johnson and President Fuller are revisiting the definition of a fee-paying student — a power the IFC implemented to their amendments in September, but not fully recognized by the Board of Trustees at the time.

All decisions regarding budget proposals and definition of a fee-paying student must be finalized before the first subcommittee meeting for the Board of Trustees, which meets around Nov. 11.

The story will be updated as more information is released.

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

The IFC decides winter term fee and department area funding

The IFC has completed 85% of their fee establishment process, but are still in debate with WOU Administration and Board of Trustees Chair

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

In the third open hearing on Nov. 25, the Incidental Fee Committee evaluated all student feedback they received on fee proposals and department area funding. From their survey sent out to students, it was revealed that 192 students participated in the questionnaire.

Based on their feedback, the IFC ultimately determined all funded areas would receive their full asking amount. However, Interim Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Randi Lydum asked for a budget reduction of approximately $100,000 due to some sports opting out of traveling.

Of the two fees proposed, 62% of the respondents voted on the lesser fee of $150. Unanimously, the IFC agreed to the $150 fee proposal and approval of all area funding proposals. With total operating costs of around $920,000, the IFC is pulling around $270,000 out of reserves.

While the IFC has completed most of its legislative process, they are still being opposed by WOU Administration and Board of Trustees chair Betty Komp. In an emergency IFC meeting held on Nov. 23, IFC members discussed the areas of disagreement between the IFC and the Board of Trustees with President Rex Fuller. 

In the meeting, Fuller voiced he does not agree with changing the current fee structure that was approved by the board in April. Fuller went on to say that he couldn’t fully say whether he would be in support of the IFC’s request of an emergency meeting with the Board of Trustees because he had seen no formal proposal from the IFC.

“I would need to see more of the argument for resolution or the recommendation you are proposing,” said Fuller. “I have not seen a clear definitive argument that you want the board to consider. What I’ve seen are ideas.”

Although Fuller says he is unwilling to have the IFC change their fee midyear, many IFC members explained that their attempts to meet with the Board of Trustees during the summer were denied, believing the discussion would be better at a later date. According to IFC Vice Chair Nick Denning, when ASWOU President NJ Johnson and President Fuller were discussing the million dollar deal, Fuller said the IFC would be given time to discuss fee applications in the winter..

“In an email that you (President Fuller) sent to NJ regarding what your plans were for winter term,” said Denning, “we (The IFC) agreed we would take your million dollars on the condition that you would plan to organize 2020-2021 IFC at the earliest possible date in order to advance incidental fee for winter and spring term of 2021. This work will form the basis joint presentation to the board of trustees at the Nov. 18 meeting.”

At this time, due to the unwillingness of the Board of Trustees to initiate an emergency meeting — granted by the bylaws — and President Fuller’s plans to withdraw funding for winter if the IFC continues its process, the IFC will continue to look into writing an appeal to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

The IFC makes preliminary funding decisions

The IFC faces threats of funding withdrawal and being denied consultations for applying a fee

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

Over the course of several months, Western administration and the Incidental Fee Committee have been in debate over the IFC’s Incidental Fee.

For winter term, it was discussed in the committee’s Oct. 29 meeting that President Rex Fuller would potentially be supplying another $1 million stimulus from the online tech fee — similar to funding supplied in fall term. IFC members briefly discussed applying a flat rate fee of $25 in comparison to their current fee system: students with one to five credits pay $265, and students with more than six credits pay $395.

In their Nov. 5 meeting, the committee announced that President Fuller changed his $1 million offer to $415,000 on the condition that the committee does not attempt to make any mid-year fee modifications and maintains their two-tier system approved back in spring 2020. 

In an email sent to ASWOU President NJ Johnson, President Fuller projected IFC expenses totaling $900,000 due to winter term being less expensive. Fuller cited that remaining funding for winter term would come from the $100,000 carryover from fall term, $85,000 from the current IFC fee and $300,000 from the $1.3 million in IFC reserves.

Despite Fuller’s conditions, the IFC has opted to carry out its normal governing processes — an extensive list — protected by OR statute 352.105.

“(There are) serious problems making our committee rely on online fee,” said junior philosophy English double major and IFC member Nick Denning in the fourth meeting transcripts. “No control over the amount of money we receive, administration is doing that all on their own and they decide what to charge and where money goes. All of a sudden we are reliant on online tech fees. (We) cannot criticize it because (our funding) will go away.”

Following their own timeline and deciding to not rely on Fuller, the IFC approved all preliminary budget proposals in their fifth meeting held on Nov. 12. Although the IFC requested areas to present budget proposal reflecting 50% funding, areas such as Student Media received an additional $1,500 to meet their needs, so they would not need to pull money from their reserves; Campus Recreation was given an additional $5,000 to increase workers to full time; Creative Arts received an additional $1,000 for student employment; ASWOU’s budget was given an additional $4,452 to allow Office Coordinator to be 1.0 FTE; Athletics requested funds for both winter and spring term in preparation for plane ticket purchases if travel is allowed.

After approving budget proposals, the committee discussed potential fee prices; in their deliberation, the IFC agreed to two possible fee scenarios. The first scenario involves all students, regardless of whether they are taking an online class, paying a flat rate fee of $150 and around $360,000 would be taken from reserves if the committee is not able to convince the Board of Trustees to lower the online tech fee. In the second scenario, if the IFC can bring down the price on the online tech fee, then all students, regardless of whether they are taking an online class, would pay a flat rate fee of $175 and around $250,000 would be taken from reserves.

Additionally, newly elected IFC Chair Makana Waikiki announced that although she attempted to request a Dec. 16 emergency meeting with the Board of Trustees, Chair Betty Komp did not reply to Waikiki. Instead, Komp only replied to ASWOU President Johnson, saying that she couldn’t endorse an emergency meeting.

At this time, due to the unwillingness of the Board of Trustees to meet with the IFC and President Fuller’s plans to withdraw funding if IFC continues its process, the committee intends to submit an appeal to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to have the IFC’s situation discussed at their Dec. 10 boarding meeting. Until then, the IFC is continuing to the next phase of their fee establishment process: open hearings being held via Zoom on Nov. 19 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and Nov. 20 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. During these hearings, members of the community can voice their concerns on fees or advocate for more funding in various areas. To participate in the hearings, visit https://wou.edu/ifc/.

As more information is released, the story will be updated.

Contact the author at scarpenter18@mail.wou.edu

IFC deliberates the winter term fee and another million dollar deal

Incidental Fee Committee meets to discuss budget and fee proposals for winter term 

Sydney Carpenter | News Editor

During the summer, the Board of Trustees determined the Incidental Fee Committee could not apply their fee to students taking online classes in the fall.

Currently, members of the IFC are discussing their plans for the upcoming winter term in Zoom meetings they host every Thursday. In the three meetings attended, starting on Oct. 15, the committee has established a 50% budget for each funded area. For fall term, the IFC received 52% of its funding after ASWOU President NJ Johnson and Western President Rex Fuller made a million dollar deal. However, the deal was made with the intent to fund the IFC only for fall term.

“The online course fee is not designed, as a general proposition, to supplement incidental fees,” said Fuller. “Due to the unique situation of fall 2020 being almost 95% online, I offered to ASWOU a $1M allocation of online course fee revenue to ease the revenue shortfall to support student services funded by incidental fees.”

In the IFC’s third meeting hosted on Oct. 29 however, it was revealed by Johnson that after the IFC’s second meeting held on Oct. 22, he and President Fuller met to discuss potentially receiving another one million dollar stimulus package. From the third meeting’s transcript, Johnson explained that a stimulus package was possible but could not answer affirmatively. IFC Chair Juliana Cameron and Johnson plan to meet with Fuller to solidify the deal.

In addition to the million dollar stimulus, the IFC intends to apply their fee this term.

“We should charge a fee, not just to keep service and staff, (but) to give students a say. We should charge as little as possible,” said sophomore political science major and IFC member Quentin Kanta.

Cameron affirmed with Kanta, voicing potentially applying a $25 fee for winter term. All members were in agreement that the fee should be kept low. Before the IFC can apply their fee, the decision to give the IFC power to define a fee-paying student — made by the Special IFC in the summer — must be approved by the Board of Trustees.

All funded areas must present budgets reflecting 50% funding and include money left over from fall term. All fee proposals, budget outlines and stimulus agreements must be submitted to the Board of Trustees by Nov. 18. The IFC is not being required to go through a subcommittee this time. 

As more information is released this story will be updated.

Contact the author at howlnews@mail.wou.edu

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