The student activity fee, which is used to help fund various clubs and organizations at Stevens, was decreased to $230 from $245 in 2015. Though the number may seem like a large sum for every student’s individual contribution to campus events, it allows Stevens’ many clubs and student organizations to offer food and other benefits to all undergraduates. With an average inflation rate of 3.32% per year since 2015 and nationally rising costs of goods and services, this raises a few questions: Why was the student activity fee originally decreased? What difference would an extra $10 per student in funding make?
According to the Stute article “Where does the student funding really go?”, the process in which the student activity fee is distributed so that a sufficient amount of money of requested funding is given to each organization on campus. The Student Government Association (SGA) is responsible for the distribution to accommodate the various experiences and interests that the students at Stevens hold. The SGA allocates funds according to budget requests and reviews additional funding requests from various clubs, while taking into account room booking, event attendance, and other factors. The SGA did not choose to decrease the student activity fee to $230; Instead, it was imposed upon them by the university.
But what difference could $10 make? After all, that’s just slightly over the price of getting a burger from 7th Street Burger! Though this individual contribution of money seems very miniscule to cover an event, when you multiply that $10 by the approximately 4000 student undergraduate population, the resulting $40,000 could make a huge difference. An increase in funds could make a difference towards student organization event supplies and food. It could potentially allow the Entertainment Committee to buy more tickets for off-campus events, increasing accessibility to the general student population. Certain benefits that have recently been stripped from student organizations, including free food at general body meetings, could potentially be restored. Though a $10 increase in the student activity fee may seem like a small amount, it truly makes an impact on the success of events.
The decrease in the student activity fee as well as recent rising costs has already had an impact on events at Stevens. According to Article I of the Student Government Association Constitution, “The SGA shall have the power, within its own means,to recommend a change in the amount of the Student Activity Fee.” This recommendation would need to be reviewed by the Office of Student Life and more offices further down the line. An increase in the student activity fee could provide significantly more funds that feed directly into student organizations and the student experience at Stevens.
