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Bailey Thompson<\/strong> | News Editor<\/span><\/p>\n When students receive their bills from the university each term, there is a charge entitled \u201cincidental fees\u201d that appears.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Western\u2019s webpage, every student who is enrolled at the university for at least 12 credits is required to pay an incidental fee, and this fee is lessened for students who are only enrolled part-time.<\/span><\/p>\n While this fee may seem random and frustrating for those who don\u2019t understand its purpose, it is actually something that students can have a say in creating.<\/span><\/p>\n For the 2019-2020 school year, the Incidental Fee Committee met on Feb. 15 to determine the preliminary budget for this fee: <\/span>$375 per term per full-time student, a $12 increase from the 2018-2019 academic year<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Rachel Rhodes, a senior communications major and one of the seven members of the IFC, shared what the purpose of the IFC is at Western.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe do a review of the budget proposed from all the department heads. And then we decide where the money should go,\u201d said Rhodes.<\/span><\/p>\n When looking at the budgets for different organizations by various department heads, Rhodes also shared that there are two different types of budgets that can be proposed.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s their operating budget, and then they can ask for enhancements\u2026 outside projects, an extra travel trip, an upgrade to their building, whatever that is for them,\u201d said Rhodes.<\/span><\/p>\n With the 2019-2020 IFC budget in particular, Rhodes shared that there was a significant outside voice who helped to determine how much money would be spent: President Rex Fuller.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were actually asked by the president not to up the fee more than five percent, and he said that if it was up more than five percent than he wouldn\u2019t approve it. So that was our goal,\u201d said Rhodes.<\/span><\/p>\n Having constructed their preliminary budget, Rhodes also noted that people who look over the spending plan may notice significant cuts.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe cut almost every budget operationally, and that\u2019s because the inflation was so much that, if we fully funded everyone, the fee would have gone up way more,\u201d said Rhodes. \u201cI think becoming the most affordable school in Oregon means you have to make cuts that scare people \u2014 like cuts to ASWOU or cuts to athletics \u2014 cuts to areas that people might question or that people might not like, but we had to make some hard decisions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to the rising costs for both building operations and student workers, due to an increasing minimum wage, Rhodes noted another cause for the fee\u2019s increase.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a rough subject to talk about right now, but enrollment is down,\u201d said Rhodes. \u201cSo, we\u2019re looking at ways to bring in more students, but it\u2019s hard for the same number of students to pay for what more students paid for last year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In looking at the new funding sources that they approved for the upcoming year, Rhodes stated that IFC was very selective in their enhancements.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to be mindful that we\u2019re cutting operational budgets but we\u2019re giving other organizations money to enhance their programs,\u201d said Rhodes. \u201cSo we granted some enhancements to new clubs \u2026 because we wanted to help foster those new clubs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Having decided the preliminary budget, the next step for the IFC is to host hearings so that members of the community could advocate for programs that are important to them. With this process ahead, Rhodes encouraged all students to make their voices heard so that it will not merely be those directly benefitting from a certain fund who are making their voices heard.<\/span><\/p>\n The two open hearings will be held on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. in the Pacific Room of the Werner University Center, and Friday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m. in RWEC 101. After these hearings, the IFC will present their budget to the ASWOU Senate, the Board of Trustees and President Rex Fuller before it can be finalized.<\/span><\/p>\n Students can also voice their opinions through a survey at wou.edu\/ifc\/news<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n