The California State Student Association recently passed a $2 voluntary representation fee that is expected to generate an additional $1.7 million for the Cal State University system, according to Associated Student Inc. Vice President Jonathon Bolin.
The fee may be implemented as soon as fall 2014 or as late as fall 2015, depending on how long the process takes, according to Sarah Couch, president of the California State Student Association (CSSA).
Although the CSSA board approved the fee, it still needs approval from the State Legislature or the CSU Board of Trustees. Once approved, the $2 fee will be implemented, Couch said.
Couch said that CSSA’s goal is to ensure that the CSU will always have student representation in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. to offer students an opportunity to always have a say in how their universities are run.
Funding generated by the new $2 fee would help CSSA expand its efforts to increase student representation in a number of areas, including sustainability efforts, student grants and online education, Bolin said.
The fee has been discussed in CSSA for almost 40 years, but questions and concerns have stalled its passage, Bolin said.
Bolin said there is some contention with campuses that don’t want to raise fees at all.
“It’s literally four dollars a year, but with some campuses, it’s an ideological argument so there’s a lot to talk about,” Bolin said.
The CSSA board took four hours to reach a decision on the fee, because such concerns continued to linger over it, Couch said.
At the end of the deliberations, the vote for the fee was 18-5-0. Couch said that if it weren’t for Bolin and ASI President John Haberstroh, the fee may not have passed this time around.
“John [Haberstroh] and Jon [Bolin’s] extensive efforts to improve the CSU system ensured that the passage of the fee would finally be successful,” Couch said.
The CSU is the largest university system in the nation with more than 435,000 students and 44,000 faculty, but the 23-campus system continues to receive the least amount of funding, Couch said.
CSSA currently has a budget of $600,000 for all 23 campuses. With more money, the CSU system can expand and improve the overall college experience, Bolin said.
In the past, CSSA has fought to shut down proposed tuition increases, a proposal to cut Cal Grants and a proposal to raise the GPA requirement for Cal Grants from a 2.0 to a 3.0, among others, Bolin said.
Managing Editor Courtney Tompkins contributed to this report.
