In a marathon four-hour meeting on Wednesday, the Student Government Association Senate turned its attention to next year’s 8 percent tuition increase. Financial Vice President Chris Pingel presented the results of a student survey on the hike, and two high-level University administrators spoke to senators about next year’s budget. In addition, the senate chartered three new student organizations and allotted $1,421 in spot funding to Saint Louis University’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity.
Gary Whitworth, SLU’s assistant vice president for planning and budgeting, addressed the senate about the University’s financial plan for next year. CFO Bob Woodruff was also on hand to answer questions.
Whitworth explained that the new budget was the result of months of planning and discussion within the faculty and administration. The Board of Trustees, the highest decision-making body at the University, approved the budget in December.
“A lot of people touch this budget and have input as it goes along,” Whitworth said.
After Whitworth and Woodruff’s departure, Pingel, a senior majoring in accounting and philosophy, presented the results of a student survey on next year’s tuition increase.
The survey, which was available online from Friday, Feb. 2, to Wednesday, Feb. 7, sought to determine how the tuition jump would affect students socially, financially and academically. It also tried to gauge students’ support for new spending and asked how higher costs might affect campus diversity.
More than 2,200 students completed the survey, representing about 20 percent of the University’s combined graduate and undergraduate population.
The survey found that students were generally in favor of the proposed spending hikes, although there were exceptions. More than 63 percent of respondents, for instance, were opposed to the expansion of the vegetarian dining option Terra Ve.
The survey also found that “there are a large number of students who will be burdened significantly by the tuition increase,” with nearly one third of respondents claiming that they received no financial support from their families.
More than 77 percent of surveyed students disagreed with following the statement: “I believe the SLU administration has sought adequate student input in decision making.”
Many also said that the tuition increase would have a negative effect on socio-economic diversity on campus, with some respondents writing that SLU increasingly would become “just a school for rich white kids.”
Summarizing the results of the survey, Pingel said that the senate should “demand that the administration seek a greater amount of student input when making administrative decisions, especially those which will have a potentially detrimental effect on students’ education experience.”
Moving on to what President Evan Krauss called “the vital legislation of the night,” the senate also considered a resolution to urge the University to join the Workers’ Rights Consortium.
Senator Max Buehler, chair of the SGA Social Justice Committee, explained that the WRC would monitor factories that produced clothing bearing SLU’s licensed images. It would notify the University if it discovered any violations of fair-working conditions, giving the school an opportunity to penalize the manufacturer or to cancel its contract.
The senate had debated and passed similar legislation twice before, in 2003 and again in 2005. Both attempts were made late in the year, however, and fizzled before efforts could be completed. Buehler said that he hoped that proposing the resolution now in February would provide enough time to resolve the issue and to ensure that SLU would join the WRC by the end of the year.
Most senators expressed support for the legislation, noting that 14 other Jesuit colleges and universities were already members of the organization.
After some questioning and debate, the senate voted by a wide margin to pass the legislation. As a SGA resolution, it has no force in and of itself, but the President’s Coordinating Council will consider the issue next month. Senators hope their endorsement of the proposal will encourage the administration to apply for membership in the WRC.
In other business, the senate allotted $1,412.20 in spot funding to SLU’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The group will spend the money on transportation costs and lodgings for a service trip over spring break; they plan to travel to Marion County, S.C., where they will help build affordable housing for low-income families.
Senators also voted to charter three new student organizations: Club Baseball, Otro Mar and OneWorld.
Otro Mar is a nonprofit, student-run film production company. Their cinematic works, all exploring social justice issues, have been screened on SLU’s campus and at other universities.
Founded last year by senior Jesse Sullivan, OneWorld “exists to rediscover . our common humanity” by examining global problems. The group has published three issues of a sleek, photograph-filled magazine, providing students a forum to share their experiences abroad.
