Student Government Association president Sam Dike outlined a proposal designed to keep tuition at UH affordable at an SGA Senate meeting Wednesday.
‘In the midst of one of the greatest economic challenges ever to face our nation, it is important we work to preserve the American dream,’ Dike said.’ ‘The people with the skills and education necessary to succeed will be the engine of our renewal as a nation.’
SGA’s tuition task force wrote the five-point proposal, which expands on last year’s tuition recommendations and introduces new measures to make the cost of a college education less daunting.
‘In a time of great economic hardship, it becomes ever more important to preserve access to higher education,’ Dike said.’
The new measures include a one-year freeze on tuition and a ‘tuition guarantee’ that would lock individual tuition at the rate paid when a freshman first comes to UH.
The proposal also recommends maintaining a 6-percent cap on tuition increases for another two years. Tuition rose 5.9 percent in 2008, the lowest raise in five years.
UH’s ‘Family Plan’ also continues to be under the SGA proposal.’
The plan provides that the University pay the tuition of students with family incomes of $30,000 or less as long as they maintain good academic standing.
‘We hope … that socioeconomic status will not be a barrier to students seeking higher education at our University,’ Dike said.
The final point of the proposal expands the University’s two-for-one summer school plan, which began last year at the recommendation of SGA. Under this plan, students can take two summer classes for the price of one class.
‘We hope this plan will allow students to graduate in a timely and inexpensive manner,’ Dike said.
An amendment integrating college councils into the student government was approved following a debate.
‘ The councils will give students the opportunity to deal with issues that pertain exclusively to their college, SGA Sen. Van Hua said.
College councils will work with the deans of their respective colleges and with SGA to address issues that affect students.
‘There are so many issues that pertain to specific colleges we wanted to empower (the students),’ Hua said. ‘In the college councils, the students better understand what’s going on.’
The Senate also approved amendments to set up a line of succession for SGA president. ‘
Sen. Hua said he was surprised to find that no line of succession was set up in the initial constitution and that SGA had been too busy to address the issue.
‘If Sam were to drop off the Earth, we would have no president constitutionally,’ Hua said. ‘It was definitely needed before the election.’
