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By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff
Student fees could be the next victim of the state’s
budget crunch.
When the UC Regents met to discuss mid-year budget cuts and the
2002-03 UC state budget Wednesday, some considered increasing
undergraduate student fees as a practical method to accommodate the
financial shortfalls.
This year will see a slimmer, revised UC budget ““ from
about $3.36 billion to $3.32 billion.
The proposed cuts occurred in energy funds, professional
developmental institutes, clinical teaching support and K-12
Internet programs. Science institutes received an increase of $5
million.
Regents chair S. Sue Johnson said the seriousness of the
state’s current budget crisis has pushed the regents to
prioritize teaching quality over upsetting students with raised
fees.
Next year, undergraduate students are slated to pay the same
$4,229 in fees that they have paid the past eight years. They even
enjoyed a 10 percent drop in the mid-1990s.
In past years, the state would buy out the cost of a fee
increase to keep students from paying it, said Larry Hershman, UC
vice president for the budget. The state did not allot any money
for a buyout in next year’s budget.
For 2002-03, the state did not allot any money toward
cost-of-living adjustments for faculty and staff. Raising student
fees could provide the funds needed to prevent quality faculty from
leaving the UC to seek better pay, Johnson said.
“We have to recruit the best faculty to attract the best
students, and this option is all I can see now,” she
said.
It is not unreasonable to adjust fees that have not risen in
several years, Hershman said.
“I don’t see why we shouldn’t have small
increases every year, as long as they’re moderate and
predictable,” Hershman said.
Student Regent Tracy Davis argued that raising undergraduate
student fees would only further burden students already struggling
with rising housing costs.
UC President Richard Atkinson refuted Davis, explaining that
because 50 percent of student fees go back to students in the form
of financial aid, low-income students would benefit from the raised
fees.
In addition to raising student fees, some regents proposed
cutting outreach programs, the funding for which was cut by $4.2
million for 2002-03.
Student Regent-designate Dexter Ligot-Gordon, a strong advocate
of student-initiated outreach, vehemently opposed the notion.
“We have to maintain access to the underserved communities
of the state by keeping fees low,” Ligot-Gordon said.
“I’m against raising student fees and actions made at
the expense of outreach.”
Other regents were not optimistic that the state would come
through for the university.
Regent William Bagley, a former California state senator, said
he did not “see the budget coming together.” If the
regents would not consider a fee increase, the state should
consider charging a deductible tax increase to make up lost funds,
he said.
Much of the UC’s financial woes can be attributed to
partial funding of the Partnership, an agreement between the
governor and university to increase funding proportional to
enrollment growth.
The Partnership, formed in 1999, originally provided for an
annual 4 percent increase to the State General Fund, an unallocated
revenue source for the university.
Gov. Gray Davis announced earlier this month that he would fall
short of the Partnership, allocating only a 1.5 percent
increase.
Hershman said his office is currently in negotiations with the
state legislature to possibly raise Partnership funding to at least
2 percent.