ASUO passed a senate resolution in February 2021 to refund Incidental Fees not utilized during the 2020-21 academic year. The estimated total refund is over $3 million, which works out to $49 per student per term, according to the resolution.
The Incidental Fee, also known as “I-Fee,” is paid along with university tuition. According to ASUO’s website, it funds thousands of services, programs and endeavors for UO students including athletic tickets, legal services, sexual assault support services and Ducks after Dark. The I-Fee for the 2020-21 academic year was $271.75 per student per term.
According to an Instagram post by ASUO, the refunds can apply to outstanding payments on a student’s account rather than a refund. The refund’s amount may vary depending on the original share of the I-Fee a student paid. ASUO President Isaiah Boyd confirmed that ASUO delivered all the I-Fee refunds to students.
Boyd said ASUO had many conversations about how to benefit students through I-Fee funds and continuously landed on the idea of a refund.
“Given that we ran on the premise of ‘we’re taking these dollars from students and putting them forward towards a program that will benefit these students,’ it doesn’t make much sense for us to just hold onto that,” said Boyd.
Many of the services that ASUO once provided were not accessible due to the pandemic. “There are certainly areas where the level of service is just not the same as in-person,” said ASUO Senator Nick Keough.
Boyd said that ASUO told all I-Fee paid programs at the beginning of the pandemic that they would have to convert to an online format. If they could not maintain operations or provide resources to students similarly to how they did in-person, ASUO would reduce their overall budget, thereby transferring the money to the surplus account.
The resolution states that ASUO has “the ethical duty to ensure the appropriate use of the Incidental Fee on behalf of the student body.” It also cites the exclusion of students in higher education from receiving COVID-19 stimulus packages as one of its motives.
“We are completely aware that $49 per student per term isn’t a lot, but in times like this, it can go a long way,” said ASUO Vice President Semeredin Kundin in an email.
“That could help students out with groceries or help them out with rent,” said Boyd.
ASUO was partially able to accomplish this because it did not fulfill the UO Athletic Agreement of over $1.7 million nor a large contract of almost $1.2 million with the Lane Transit District, according to the resolution.
“It’s just a lot of money that is being underutilized that we don’t think is necessarily ethical to hold onto,” said Keough.
However, some services and organizations still received I-Fee funds during the pandemic. ASUO has maintained operations like student legal council and student organizations. Both Boyd and Keough said that funding the EMU was a priority.
Boyd said the EMU had a large deficit that ASUO paid off so that students could continue to utilize its services after the pandemic.
“We have a big chunk of money that goes to the EMU to keep the lights on and the rent paid,” Keough said. “That’s just always vitally important even though campus has been closed.”
Although the UO administration approved this year’s resolution, it did not approve a resolution made last May to refund I-Fees in the amount of $15.
UO spokesperson Saul Hubbard said the administration denied last year’s refund due to the possibility of a drop in student enrollment for fall term. An enrollment drop of 5% would mean the loss of $800,000 in I-Fee revenue, he said in an email.
“Because the ASUO did not spend its budget as anticipated, due in part to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, its reserve grew significantly,” said Hubbard. “Coupled with less uncertainty about enrollment, the administration did not object to ASUO’s proposed I-Fee refund for this academic year.”
Keough said that he did not think the university administration should have rejected last year’s refund, and that it felt like the UO administration was stepping on student autonomy.
“It eventually went to administration, and they just immediately shut it down and said that it was an irresponsible decision from the student senate, which we definitely didn’t agree with,” said Keough. “We had done our due diligence and basically spent that whole term figuring out what the appropriate number would be that still wouldn’t hurt us but would also put money back into student pockets.”
Boyd said that there was some concern at first with the administration’s rejection of the resolution, but that he eventually agreed.
“I see now that the rejection of this refund allowed ASUO the necessary flexibility with our budget to make the substantial changes we did this year,” he said.
Ultimately, Boyd said he is thrilled that the administration approved this year’s resolution. “In my opinion, the refund that we allocated this year was a high priority for all of ASUO, and I am thrilled to see that the university administration understood that,” he said.
