For more than six years, graduate students studying architecture at the University’s Portland Center have paid the same incidental fees as students in Eugene. Yet unlike students at the main campus, the nearly 80 students in Portland aren’t getting the services they’re paying for. They do not have easy access to the public transportation system, recreation center or sports tickets provided by student fees in Eugene.
To counter this inequity, a group of students have formed the Portland Student Action Council, a new group designed to advocate for equal distribution of the fees and enhance the Portland Urban Architecture Program.
Interim PSAC Vice President Britt Nelson said students in Portland are concerned they’re not receiving the full benefits of their fee money.
“The majority of people understand they’re paying fees to the campus down in Eugene that they’re not seeing,” she said. “We know now that some things like transportation and rec centers are not being provided up here.”
Group members are asking for $300 in student money, the maximum amount a new group can receive under ASUO rules. The money would pay for an alumni round-table discussion, events displaying student work and a publication of student work.
Although the group has been recognized, members won’t know if they received funding until the group’s hearing before the Programs Finance Committee on Jan. 13.
Students currently pay about $180 per term in incidental fees, according to the ASUO Web site.
ASUO Vice President Mena Ravassipour said ASUO officials were not aware that 80 students were not receiving the same amenities as students in Eugene until earlier this year when PSAC began to form, but they are now working to address students’ concerns.
“It’s kind of early to say what’s going to happen, but right now we’re doing a lot of research to see if there’s a way to partner with (Portland State University) to work with partner services they could use up there,” she said.
PSAC is the second group located at a satellite campus to ask for funding, joining the already-established Oregon Marine Students Association at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston. The OMSA was created, like PSAC, to provide services for fee-paying students at the institute.
Students at the other satellite campus, located in Bend, do not pay incidental fees, ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert said.
PSAC’s formation began in late October when Nelson, Interim President Gary Blackwell and student Andrea Brown held informal meetings as a student council, an idea Blackwell said students in Portland had been discussing for several years.
Nelson said the group drafted a formal petition asking for equitable bus service and recreation facilities addressed to administrators in the Architecture Department and copied it to the ASUO as an afterthought.
Nelson said response was “nearly unanimous” in favor of signing the petition.
She said opinions about the fees vary among the students, saying some are upset and want their money back, although the group is simply asking for equal access to services.
Nelson, who has attended school at the Eugene campus, said Portland students didn’t form a group or request support from the ASUO sooner because many have not attended the Eugene campus and don’t have experience with student government.
Blackwell said the council will allow Portland students, who typically are there for two years or less, to pass on information so it doesn’t have to be relearned.
But Nelson added that the ASUO was similarly unaware.
“We were interested to find out that the ASUO had no idea there were close to 80 students up here … paying fees and not really receiving anything for it,” Nelson said.
Nelson said affordable access to public transportation is an ongoing hassle for Portland students that she took for granted in Eugene. Although the architecture program is located downtown near bus stations and next to the MAX Light Rail, a commuter train that travels throughout the Portland area, she said students have to pay for expensive passes to use those systems.
“Down in Eugene, we know that part of our student fee goes toward … free bus rides, so we were trying to find some sort of subsidy or a way to help us pay for our TriMet passes,” she said.
Blackwell said over half of the Portland students use TriMet, and he said paying about $450 a year for the service is unfair to students. According to www.trimet.org, an annual TriMet pass costs $408.
“You’re basically paying the fee, but then you have to turn around and pay a monthly bus pass fee,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you are sort of getting double taxed in a way.”
Blackwell said he has met with TriMet representatives about getting student passes, but the company only offers subsidized tickets to larger institutions.

“The problem is, they can’t go with each student individually, so we have to have a department make contact with them and say, ‘This is something we want to do,’” he said. He said one solution would be to partner with PSU, which already provides its students with an option to get passes.
Blackwell added that a lack of access to transportation can be a safety issue, saying a student was recently forced to ride her bike because she couldn’t afford a TriMet pass and was subsequently involved in a bicycle accident.
“It’s almost irresponsible that these things haven’t been taken care of, so students aren’t looking at situations like this,” he said. “That could have possibly been avoided if she had a bus pass.”
Blackwell said Portland students might also be able to gain easier access to the PSU recreation center. He said he and a few other students have been able to use it, but it was “a real ordeal.”
Nelson added that Portland students would also like the ability to reserve athletic tickets from Portland because it is too costly and time consuming to drive to Eugene and back to get tickets. Neither Blackwell nor Nelson had attended a game at Autzen Stadium or McArthur Court.
Blackwell said PSAC members hope to accomplish more than just equitable allocation of fee money.
“Really, the overarching idea is providing a forum where students can gather and address the issues that are pertinent to their success in the program,” he said.
Nelson agreed.
“We’re hoping to get past the student fees, get past these basic things that have been plaguing the students and make this program better, not only for the students but also for the University,” Nelson said.
Nelson said advocating for services has spurred the group into action on other projects.
Blackwell said PSAC will aid students in networking with alumni, aiding the transition from academia to a professional setting.
“Having alumni that we can sort of lean back on and provide some guidance is a great opportunity for the program to take advantage of its alumni and strengthen that tie, and there’s more meaning to it than just, ‘Oh, that’s the place where I got my degree,’” Blackwell said.
Blackwell added that the group did not use “architecture” in its name so it could expand to include students from other academic disciplines who might study in Portland in the future.
With or without funding, Blackwell said PSAC will continue.
“In our eyes, we don’t need money. We don’t need formal recognition to do the things we want to do,” he said. “It’s a benefit that makes the process a little easier.
“In our view, the council exists. We’re here to make it stronger.”

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