The Martlet | Students asked to partially fund new facilities

The Martlet | Students asked to partially fund new facilities

The athletics fee issue is back. The GSS was active in the campaign to defeat this last year by calling on the Minister of Advanced Education (now Science and Universities) and the BC Tuition Limit Policy.

some past news on this issue:

Coverage of the campaign victory at UBC Insiders
Some past Martlet coveragae here.

And hey, here's the campaign info from the last time around.

UBC Insiders gives GSS rave reviews

I love the UBC Insiders blog.

I love them even more, now though, because they provided some excellent coverage of our athletics fee fight. Not only that, they identify some implications for UBC students regarding their athletics fees at UBC-O.

Check out the full story here.

Queens, athletics and cut backs

Hat tip to Dan for this link, regarding another athletics facility partially funded by student levy, and in this case the deficit and budget cuts that followed when the rest of the funding wasn't secured...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/queens-principal-to-do-less-with-less/article1399045/

Ryerson students athletics increase

$126/year increase for student athletics fees at Ryerson was approved by student ballot. Fees are curently about $20.98 for graduates -- and a per credit fee up to max $30/term for undergrads--so students will now pay ... less than UVIC grad students pay for athletics per term (or the same as undergraduates now pay at UVIC) but get Maddison Square Gardens as their athletics facility...

Hmm.

Martlet Story: GSS responds to athletics referendum

Amy Cox and Mike Large have been busy ensuring grad students are heard on the referendum campaign with two recent op eds in the Martlet.

Newest is here:
http://www.martlet.ca/article/20376-gss-disappointed-with-referendum-information

My fave comment is "Why is the GSS so well run?" Thanks, "argh", it's because we have people like Amy and Mike!!

It’s your call: One click could save you $55 per term in athletics fees

Should students pay for a new athletic facility with a “new” $55/term fee (in addition to the current $73/term fee)?

You will be asked to vote on this question October 19-23, 2009 on webvote at https://webvote.uvic.ca

The Graduate Students’ Society is opposed to this fee increase. Here are some of our reasons:

Is this fee increase legal?

The GSS is concerned that the fee increase is not permitted under BC’s tuition limit policy, which caps increases of tuition and fees for current programs at 2% per year. This new fee will be a 75% fee increase for students.

The GSS has sent UVic a letter (PDF) asking UVIC to account for this, and will post any reply we receive on our campaign site here: http://gss.uvic.ca/2009athletics.htm

Who uses and who pays?

In the January 2009 term alone, contribution by students to the Athletics and Recreation budget was $1,082,939.00—without including additional fees paid by students for intramural, weight room, and program fees.

According to UVIC data for January – March 2009, which assumes average usage of 1-3 visits per week, about 30% of undergraduates and 8% of graduate students are using the Ian Stewart Complex (the most popular recreation facility on campus).

Athletics fees: the goal posts keep moving!

Until UVIC purchased the Ian Stewart Complex (ISC), athletic fees increased at a rate almost identical to inflation. Since the purchase of ISC, students have been paying a greater proportion of the cost for Athletics at UVIC each year. In the past decade, the proportion of the Athletics budget covered by student fees has risen from 20% to 38%.

Mandatory fees can be a benefit—if they are less than market rate

Compare this fee proposal to the U-pass... the U-pass costs one quarter the cost of buying a monthly buss pass. Every student pays in, but the cost is kept lower than market rate. In return, transit improves bus service to Victoria campuses.

Now compare the proposed athletics fee proposal to other recreation passes in Victoria *:

No. of terms	Current fee	New fee
One term	$73	$128
Two Terms	$146	$256
Three Terms	$219	$320*
COMPARE
Sannich Rec student pass	285/year
Oak Bay Rec annual pass	$345/year
YM-YWCA pass - family pass	$444/year $780/year

* graduate students will have the option to opt out of the summer term; summer term will be charged at 50%. 60% of graduate students and 20% of undergraduates pay 3 terms of fees per year.

What are the other options?

UVIC says mandatory student fees need to cover 36.7% of the cost of the building—but what are other options? UVIC’s consultation process suggested selling the Ian Stewart Complex as one revenue source. Other options include bigger donor campaigns, a stronger lobby for government support.

UVIC’s facility analysis indicates UVIC will seek to cover costs of the building with the following revenues:

1. New students Mandatory Fee

2. Program revenues

3. Donors

4. Government funding

5. UVIC contribution

What are the arguments in favour of the fee increase?

UVIC made a presentation to the GSS Grad Council about the proposal. It can be found here.

UVIC’s facility analysis (500 pages) can be found here.

UVIC’s/vikes website supporting the fee increase is here

Student facebook group in support of the fee increase is found on the vikes website here

Visit open houses

Help the campaign

Visit the GSS campaign site, download a poster, learn more: all here