Fee increase mobilizes students
Fee increases have shadily been moving along in the UMass system. A colleague has also just written about this, however I'm going to first touch on what has led to this point, some of which has not received any press.
First off, the fee increases had to pass in committee. The agendas went out on time, as required, but no numbers in relation to the fee increase were attached. Instead there was a notice of more information coming that could not be distributed at that time. Fast forward to two days before the meeting, Alex Kulenovic, my student trustee, finds out about the number behind the fee increases from a Boston Globe reporter, not the board secretary. He has two days notice to research what effects a $1500 fee increase would have on our student body, the University, financial aid, and how it stacks up to "the competition" as it were. He sent an e-mail of outrage over the process and the way this was sprung upon him. He was able to get ahold of trustees who agreed that this motion should not yet be voted on given the way information was disseminated. During the meeting, he reiterated the points he made in his e-mail regarding the process and the possibility of stimulus funds nearly eliminating the need for a fee increase. During the meeting he was able to sway a single vote, which tabled the increase for a week, buying students a small amount of time to do further research and organize. The following week, Alex's motion to table failed, and the fee increases passed through committee. The final decision will now be made this Friday at UMass Dartmouth.
However, the outrage of a flat $1500 increase (approximately a 17% increase) has pushed students to the breaking point. Organizations such as Massachusetts Students Uniting and the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (a coalition of public higher education students, faculty, staff, etc) have seen increases in involvement. Students have also been organizing on their own campuses, without the help of these organizations. A new Facebook page demonstrates this, with the formation of the Massachusetts Student Action Coalition (spawned out of UMass Lowell), which has a similar mission to MSU and the ultimate goal of which is to become a statewide student union across all public campuses. All four undergraduate campuses are also planning to be present at this final vote, with buses coming from Amherst, Boston, and possibly Lowell. UMass Dartmouth students have a short commute in comparison, and will also be making their opposition to the fee increases known, and I'm also hoping they will express displeasure at their student trustee being in support of this increase.
Students against this increase are against it for numerous reasons. Included is a worry that as UMass becomes more dependent on student fees and less so on the state, they will accept more and more wealthier students in order to cover financial aid and operating expenses, which would change the scope of the student body at all campuses. This would have a massive effect at UMass Boston as it would essentially move further and further away from its mission of serving the surrounding urban community. Other worries include sending the wrong message to Governor Patrick and the legislature, along the lines of : "We've taken care of things on our end, we don't need any more funding because the students are going to pick up the tab." Particularly worrisome is the signal the governor receives. Patrick has the ability to distribute education funds to operating budgets or capital projects such as new buildings. If Patrick thinks that UMass has everything covered, he would likely be more apt to give those funds to capital projects. That, of course, is assuming he doesn't pass the buck to the legislature to avoid bad press for the way he distributes the funds.
PHENOM and MSU have both rallied around the need for these stimulus funds. As Keith pointed out, tomorrow is a statewide call in day to Governor Patrick's office to try and pressure him to distribute stimulus funds to campus operating budgets. If you want to participate, please call 888.870.7770 and let Patrick know that we need to invest in higher education to stimulate our knowledge-based economy.
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Fee increase mobilizes students
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