Though the proposed $160.5 million renovations to the Student Recreation Center and EMU are not expected to be completed until 2014 and 2015, the University administration has proposed a new student fee to fund the project set to start as early as next fall.@@http://www.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/26207052-41/student-students-plan-university-center.html.csp@@
Some of the funding for the project will come from donations and funds already set aside. However, the majority of funding will come from the new fee imposed on current students who will likely have graduated by the time the project is finished, meaning they will pay construction costs to a building they will likely never use.
Vice President of Student Affairs Robin Holmes presented the proposal to the Oregon University System’s Finance and Expansion Committee last Friday to get the necessary approval to move toward getting the project included in the capital construction bill to be voted on by state legislators later this month.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Robin+Holmes@@
“The administration is saying students are OK with these (fees) and believe this is a legacy gift,” Brian Fox, State Board of Higher Education member, said of Holmes’ presentation.@@http://www.ous.edu/state_board/foxbio@@
According to minutes from the meeting, Holmes suggested students support the project based on a 2010 survey.
“Every single student received the survey,” said Gregg Lobisser, @@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Gregg+Lobisser+@@chair of the EMU user group, who added that the entire consultation process — which included focus groups, assessment surveys and one-on-one meetings with campus student government — was “maybe the most broadly represented inquiry that has ever occurred for students at the University of Oregon.”
Of the approximately 6,000 students that took part in the survey — approximately 30 percent of the total student population — 79 percent said they supported and would be willing to pay for the renovations.
The committee sent the request on to the legislature, but members still voiced concern for the equity and transparency in precharging students for the buildings.
“It’s easy if a survey comes around and says, ‘Hey, do you want a new gym or memorial union?’” Black said. “It’s easy to frame things in such a way that the there is no response but ‘yes.’”
As it stands, the new student fee would start at $30 per term for the first year, rise to $60 for the second and stop at $100 until the project is completed. The administration cites that collecting the fees early allows it to pay for the project’s early expenses without borrowing more money, reducing the costs of the corresponding interest. If the University precharges students now, the building cost for students in the future will be $11 lower per term.
However, though charging students now does reduce the overall cost of the buildings to students, Black said the total cost to the individual student is much higher.
“A student in four years could pay $11 more a term — $132 over four years for a building they will have access to,” Black said. “(However) a freshman today would pay $560 for a building they won’t get to use.
“To me, if I were a student I would be pretty upset about that.”
ASUO President Amelie Rousseau said initially she had the same reservations about the proposed funding. However, she has decided to support the fee and agreed to cosign a joint letter with University President Richard Lariviere to OUS Chancellor George Pernsteiner asking for his support.@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=Amelie+Rousseau@@ @@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=staff&d=person&b=name&s=Richard+Lariviere@@ @@http://www.ous.edu/news_and_information/bios/pernsteiner.php@@
“I would just hope that students understand that this is an opportunity to help the University become a better place for future students,” Rousseau said, adding that the original EMU was funded under the same model in 1947. “That’s kind of just how it goes — you pay it forward.”
Most of the major buildings on campus were funded through early fee collection, including McArthur Court and the Lillis Business Complex, Lobisser said, and most were done without any student feedback.
“It just can’t be reduced to ‘what can I get out of it,’” Lobisser said of the fee on students, noting that the recreation center and EMU are some of the most used and important buildings on campus. Being part of improving them is “a legacy, leadership opportunity for students.”
However, Black and several other members of the committee were not only concerned with the legitimacy of precharging students but with the potential that the project will surpass the state board’s set debt limit for universities.
Currently, OUS schools can operate with debt equal to 7 percent of their annual budget. The OUS predicts that the renovation project will bring the University into about a 7.17 percent debt ratio, which is still within the margin.
“If students don’t go along with (the new fee), then this will go up,” Black said. “It’s going to push the debt margin so that it’s no longer within the margin — at this point it becomes a different conversation.”
Black said it’s not the projects themselves that are the concern, saying the renovations would “significantly upgrade the student experience.”
“And if students really support precharging, that’s fine,” Black said.  “My concern is that the math doesn’t pan out.”