On March 26 and 27, the Student Government Association (SGA) will hold their annual elections. Part-time and full-time students will have the chance to vote on the fate of the Student Activity Fee during this year’s election.
The Student Activity Fee is a mandatory fee for all students at SUNY Old Westbury. The funds are allocated by the SGA toward student activities. This includes clubs, organizations, the Center for Student leadership and Involvement (CSLI), and the Campus Activities Board (CAB), among other OW entities that promote student engagement on campus.
“We give donations to the Panther Pantry,” SGA President, Amira Crystal T. Richardson, explained. “We give out free bus cards for people to be able to have transportation in an equitable way.”
Fried Chicken Wednesday, CAB parties, club events and meetings that have giveaways or food are funded through the Student Activity Fee. The fee also funds scholarships through the Old Westbury College Foundation and student success initiatives related to LSAT and MCAT test preparation, according to Richardson.
Students will be able to vote if they want this fee to continue to be mandatory on March 26 & 27. SUNY compliance policies require that this proposition be on the ballot every two years. The question is designed to make sure the fee continues to represent student interests. Richardson said that, “it is really just making sure and seeing if the students align with having the Student Activity Fee as a mandatory fee, like the transportation [fee] or the technology fee or the student health fee.”
If the student body votes to keep the fee mandatory, it’ll remain in place. If the student body doesn’t vote to keep the fee mandatory, it turns into an optional fee.
An optional fee means each student will decide if they’d like to pay the fee. Full-time students who choose not to pay would have their tuition bill reduced by $87.50 per semester (with the current fees in place). Part-time students would have a deduction of $51.00 per semester.
If students chose not to pay the fee, SGA would receive less funding to allocate to on campus activities and resources for students. When it comes to voting about the proposal, Richardson said, “it’s just being really intentional about what your student experience looks like.”
There will also be a question on the ballot about whether the student body wants to increase the Student Activity Fee. SGA’s goal is to increase the fee to $100. This is an increase of $12.50 per semester for full time students. Richardson explained that if the student body supports a fee increase, SGA would plan to use the funds for “better artists, livelier weekends, and amazing fulfilling events for clubs because [they] would funnel that back to clubs.”
How do students feel about the Student Activity Fee?
On one hand, some find the fee to be an important asset to creating a fun campus environment. Freshman student, Jahjah Mason, believes the fee is important for campus engagement. He said, “it should be obvious that that should be a mandatory fee because the school, they should want to have kids engaging with each other.” He continued, “it’s the only way to make it a real, active campus.”
Beranna Beckett, an e-board member of OW Rainbow, finds the fee vital for the functioning of her club. She said the fee allows the promotion of her club and collaboration with other clubs. Beckett said a fee increase would help students “personalize their experience on campus.”
Other students are less passionate about increasing this mandatory fee. “I think that either it should be something that you choose to pay, or they [should] probably lower it to like fifty dollars or something,” said sophomore Public Health student, Ayo Adeniran. He explained that while it’s good to have funding for clubs, he doesn’t want to pay too much. When asked his opinion on the fee increase, Adeniran stated, “I don’t think so… no… no… I think it’s just too much money.”
Angel Fermaints, a sophomore History student, said, “theoretically [the fee] could just be optional, but I mean, I don’t mind necessarily paying for it if it’s gonna bring a lot of interesting events and interesting activities to do.” Fermaints would rather not pay more for student activities.
The last increase in the Student Activity Fee was in the 2014-2015 academic year when it rose from $145 to $175. The fee increased only $55 over the 21 year period from 2001 to 2022. During this same period, the technology fee increased $276, the athletic fee increased $148, and the student health fee increased $100. The college fee increased from $25 to $50. There was no transportation fee until the 2010-2011 academic year. Since then, it increased from $100 to $120.
Richardson explained that the Student Activity Fee at OW is one of the lowest in the SUNY system. The only fee lower than OW’s Student Activities Fee in the SUNY system is Empire State University with $70. The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry is the only SUNY school with the same fee cost as OW, according to campus records. All other SUNY schools have higher Student Activity Fees.
During this year’s election, students will also be able to vote for who they want to represent them in all SGA positions, including but not limited to, the President, Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Director of Programming. All SGA positions are voted on annually.
The ballot will be available on Panther Connect under the “elections” tab. There will be tables around campus on the days of the election where students can vote online with the help of SGA representatives at the tables, according to Destiny Perez, the SGA Director of Communications.
On March 26, there will be a table in the New Academic Building. On March 27, there will be a table in the Campus Center. This vote will determine the upcoming future of campus activities for our school.
