Major takeaways from SFAC’s recommendations

On Dec. 8, the Student Fees Advisory Committee released its recommendations to President and Chancellor Renu Khator on how to allocate the Student Service Fee in FY16 (fiscal year 2016, effective in October 2016). The recommendations were released a little over a month after all fee-funded student organizations, like Student Government Association, Student Program Board, The Cougar, Frontier Fiesta and more submitted requests for their allocation of the Student Service Fee.

Khator has not yet confirmed the recommendations of SFAC, although the president and chancellor has a history of approving its recommendations, according to Dr. William F. Munson, associate vice president for student affairs and faculty adviser to SFAC.

Other fee-funded departments and units, like the Veterans Services Office, Counseling and Psychological Services, the Blaffer Art Gallery and more also submitted requests for their allocation of the Student Service Fee.

In the recommendation report, SFAC Chair Nathan Alsbrooks and Vice-chair Rex Mann did not recommend an increase in the Student Service Fee, recognizing “affordability and accessibility as cornerstones that facilitate (the) University’s competitiveness.” Currently, the Student Service Fee’s cap sits at $250, meaning that each student will only be required to pay a maximum Student Service Fee of $250 per semester. In Sept., SGA passed a resolution that recommended raising the fee cap to $270 from $250.

All recommendations made by SFAC must be confirmed by Khator. If approved, these allocations will become available on Oct. 1, 2016.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from this year’s SFAC allocations:

Student Programming Board

SPB requested $376,153 in base augmentation for FY16, to be used for, among other things, organizing “highly engaging concerts as a programming option at Frontier Fiesta,” funding a Luau-themed Spring Fest and implementing a UH “Clue” interactive game under the supervision of the Nights and Weekends Chair.

Over $280,000 of that request was to be funneled into the Homecoming concert. Despite SFAC calling SPB’s Homecoming concert request “beyond reasonable,” SPB was approved an allocation of $220,000 to be used for Homecoming concert programming. SPB’s one-time request of $24,582 for FY15 was approved in its entirety, to be used for a proposed Harry Potter Festival (date unannounced), a UH Carnival and internal organizational expenses.

In total, SPB received over $278K in FY15 one-time allocations, a base augmentation and FY16 one-time allocations.

CoogRadio

CoogRadio became a base-funded organization, and is approved to receive $26,277 in annual base funding. Prior to this, it was receiving no portion of the Student Service Fee. SFAC “applauded” CoogRadio for its quality of its presentation, citing the presentation’s benchmarking data as evidence of “the competitiveness and merit of our radio program in comparison to others at similar universities.”

Frontier Fiesta

The majority of Frontier Fiesta’s requests were approved, allocating $281,430 towards one-time funding for FY15 and nearly $60,000 in one-time allocations for FY16. These requests were made for an increase in operational expenses for “an increase in size” of the event, increase in attractions for Family Funday and other expenses.

SFAC did not approve Frontier Fiesta’s request for nearly $100,000 for the “rental fee charged by Sports and Entertainment for use of (TDECU) Stadium” as a location for Frontier Fiesta. In SFAC’s recommendation report, the committee wrote that it was withholding judgement based on “the fluctuating standing of the student body’s Memorandum of Understanding.” The memorandum was approved of by the student body when it also approved a $45 increase on the Student Service Fee to fund the construction of the new football stadium.

The “fluctuating standing” that SFAC is referring to is this: On Nov. 3, SGA President Charles Haston addressed SFAC and called out Administration and Finance for allegedly failing to honor the Memorandum of Understanding, as the memorandum’s clause “a direct effect on students, including (allowing them) to utilize (TDECU Stadium and Hofheinz Pavilion) with no facility rental fee for events like Frontier Fiesta and Homecoming… considering it’s really students who have paid for these facilities,” Haston said. Any fees charged by Sports and Entertainment would be in violation of this clause.

Executive Director of Media Communications Richard Bonnin said in an email that “costs associated with (Fronter Fiesta) include rental fees for the use of surrounding parking lots, the stadium parking garage and for concessions in the parking areas. These are operational expenses, not facility usage fees.” Any alleged violations of the memorandum are still under investigation.

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