$185,000 in Tier II funds given to scholarships and student needs

By Debra Hawkins

March 3, 2008 | Tier II tuition was implemented by the State Legislature to allow university presidents to have some of the tuition dollars stay at home. First tier tuition does not stay strictly at the university where it is collected rather it is spread out to other schools while Tier II benefits directly the students from whom it is collected, said ASUSU advisor Tiffany Evans.

Of the Tier II tuition money available to students more than $185,000, including $81,000 for scholarships, $43,062 for the staffing of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender and Allied Services and $6,000 for the writing center to expand their services to the entire campus, were passed as a part of Tier II tuition increases, by the ASUSU Executive Council.

According to the Tier II tuition proposal paper, every year students have the opportunity to make recommendations to the administration on how some of the money that comes from Tier II tuition should be spent. This year, an ad hoc committee made up of five members of ASUSU decided how much money would be spent on different items and then presented those dollars amounts to the executive council for approval. The ad hoc committee took their suggestions from a survey given to 2,000 students, with the exception of the staffing of the GLBTA center and helping relocate the tennis courts, which were items the committee said it felt were necessary to add.

"The number one things students wanted to see was scholarships," Nick West, Humanities Arts and Social Sciences senator and member of the Tier II tuition ad hoc committee said. "We utilized everything we thought we needed and we didn't spend anything more on anything we felt superficial."

The scholarships the council voted to fund were: the Sophomore Scholarship Fund, Graduate Student Senate Enhancement awards, the creation of a new scholarship for international students and scholars, as well as $15,000 for an ASUSU leadership scholarship. It was recommended by Student Advocate Bryan Olsen, that the leadership scholarship be changed to be a leadership and retention scholarship to be partially used to keep students from leaving USU and continuing their education somewhere else.

"A lot of students drop out because of a matter of a couple of hundred dollars," Olsen said. "We lose about 20-30 percent of students between their freshman and sophomore year. You would see a ripple effect from these scholarships as early as next semester. It wouldn't be full amounts but enough to keep people in school. With it the way it is, it sounds like we are just giving ourselves more opportunities instead of reaching beyond ourselves."

According to the USU retention and first year experience Web site, retention is the things the university does to improve learning and life for students to keep them at the university. The retention office Web site currently offers links to such items as the academic calendar and campus recreation to help students to get involved. The scholarships would allow ASUSU and the retention office to help keep students in school by providing the extra money they sometimes need.

However, the motion to officially declare the scholarships available for retention purposes was shot down by council members and removed from the amendment. Council members said they did not want the possibility of the Retention Office in the future asking for the ability to choose the awards themselves.

"I don't have a problem creating a scholarship, but we are creating a scholarship that has to be divided between two entities," West said. "I don't think we should have two entities who have conflicting interests fighting over the same money. Retention could overstep and take more."

One of the amendments the council did pass was an added $5,000 dollars to the already allotted $38,062 to help with the operation cost of the GLBTA office, as the original amount only paid for one salaried office worker. The office provides information to students about sexual orientation.

"Currently our operation budget comes from Gary Chamber's magic pot 'o' money," Maure Smith, program coordinator of GLBTA services, said. "If it is not funded here, I am not sure where the operating budget will come from."

According to the GLBTA Web site, the center holds a collection of more than 300 books concerning all different sexual orientation questions including biographies, memoirs and books containing topics about activism, aids and bisexuality and computer access that allows students to research such topics online.

Smith said the center provides a safe place for everybody and she provides advocacy for students and professors who feel discriminated against, and the money would help. Although many members of the council seemed in approval of providing the extra $5,000 to the organization, it did not pass unanimously.

"I wouldn't feel like (the amendment) was supporting the student body," Academic President Kevin Abernethy said. "If we have 5,000 more dollars, let's give that to scholarships. If you had the student body here, you would see that not all of them want this."

One of the final initiatives which passed the Executive Council was adding of an extra advisor to the HASS Advising Office.

"There is not one student that can graduate without experiencing a class in the college of HASS," West said. "One HASS adviser has 400 students to field. We hope to be able to fund other advisers in other offices within the coming years."

In a previous executive council, Nick West said about 90 percent of general education requirements fall under the college of HASS, so many students who are undeclared are being sent to the HASS advising office because it is the least specific college and because of that the college is backed up, sometimes not being able to get in for a few days.

According to the , the HASS office currently has seven advisors who are available to answer students questions about graduation requirements.

As a result of of this legislation, the Writing Center will receive $6,000 to expand their services to the entire campus, allowing students in any major, not just the English department, to get feedback on papers.

According to the Writing Center Web site the center helps with the grammar, citations and strengthening the English skills of students needing to pass the education program writing exam.

All of the legislation passed by the Executive Council has to be approved by the administration before going into effect.

"[The administration] has always made a real big effort to fund the student initiatives," Evans said. "If you pass something, it is a high priority to fund those."

ASUSU Student Web Site

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