You know that $250 Student Service Fee in your tuition bill every semester?
“Where does that money go,” you asked. “Is this mandatory?”
Yep, it’s mandatory, and it has a purpose.
The money from that fee — $250 from each student enrolled in classes at UH, regardless of whether they are full time or part time — funds organizations and resource centers on campus, including The Cougar, Student Programming Board, Counseling and Psychological Services, Frontier Fiesta, the Center for Diversity and Inclusion and more. Even the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics gets a slice.
“But why does it matter,” you ask.
You should know where your money is going. The Student Fees Advisory Committee, a panel of seven elected students, two faculty members and one non-voting adviser, will hear requests Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Nov. 2 for funding that they can start using October 2016.
Organizations can have their funding increased, cut or maybe a little of both. Either way, it’s something that you, as a student, should be informed of and actively participate in.
All of the presentations are open to the public, and students should take it upon themselves to attend them.
The Cougar hears complaints too often about how the University uses its money. This is the place to see how the University decides how to use your cash.
Whether or not you attend is your prerogative. We know that life gets in the way, so that’s why we’re going to be covering the hearings with online and print coverage.
But, if an effort is made to come to at least one of these hearings and see how the process works, you’ll thank yourself for it later.
— The Cougar Editorial Board
