The SGA had questions and concerns regarding the possibility of raising the Athletics Fee. The form to increase the fee was applied for, but there is no answer if the fee will be increased.
Currently, the Athletics Fee is the highest of the nine fees students pay, in addition to their tuition. Students are charged 20.60 per credit hour for the Athletics Fee, or $309 if taking 15 credit hours.
“It sticks out because of the cost, and that is understandable. It is no lie that many colleges like Tech are struggling right now with costs rising and attendance dropping,” Kevin Solomon, dean for student engagement and SGA advisor, said.
To increase or enact any fee that applies to the student body, it must go through Tech’s Fee Subcommittee and eventually get passed to the Budget Advisory Committee for consideration and last to the president and executive members.
“Money is a tricky thing to talk about. We are not up in arms against or for it. SGA is just asking questions and giving their feedback,” Solomon said.
SGA is the official student voice to the university’s administration. Its mission is to represent students’ interests and enhance the student decision-making process to improve campus life.
“We want to think about current students and future students when any fee comes to us. Everyone gets to send in questions, and we work through them and reword if need be, and we send them in,” Brittany Shannon, SGA president, said.
Some of the questions SGA asked were: What does the athletics fee include, what are the costs associated with the increase of higher roster numbers and is the fee increase a solution for a temporary problem related to the high inflation rate and increase in the US economy.
“Our main goal was to ask how and why this might be happening. We are hoping that if they take our questions and address them that we build this bond between the student body and the administration,” Shannon said.
As of right now, no final decision has been made over the fee.
(Editors’ note: We will follow the story as it develops further.)
