Renovating the USU fee

Limited seating, study space and a lack of centralized resource centers are all issues that the University Student Union hopes to address with a fee increase of $165 per semester, according to the USU referendum website.

The USU Board of Trustees, with the endorsement of the Associated Students Inc. Senate, voted last April to hold a referendum in February 2015 that would allow students to vote on a possible $165 increase to the current $179 USU mandatory fee.

The USU fee of $134 for students who attend in the summer would increase by $124 if the referendum passes.

The proposal for the USU referendum states, “The USUBOT recommends that a student referendum be conducted in late February 2015 so that the student body may decide with a simple majority if an increase of $165 per semester ($124 per summer) in the Student Body Center (USU) fee should occur for the construction, renovation, expansion, and operation of the University Student Union. The increased fee will not go into effect until the year the renovated sections of the USU open.”

“The USU needs renovation seriously,” junior English major Marissa Rogers said. “I can never find seating there, and it’s very outdated… If I were able to experience the renovated USU, I would definitely pay for it.”

The USU fee would not be implemented until the USU construction is finished and is ready for student use, according to the referendum website. Some students have expressed concerns about this piece of the proposal.

“Why should I vote on something that I won’t be paying for or experiencing?” Michael Harper, a senior political science major, asked. “Can’t we just get funding from the government, rather than feed off of this middle class?”

Vanessa Mendoza, USU Board of Trustees chairperson, said nearly 70 percent of students receive some sort of financial aid. Since the fee increase is a mandatory registration fee, meaning it must be paid when enrolling in courses, it could be covered by any type financial aid, including loans, grants and scholarships.

“As we struggle, we can think about the future students; we don’t want them to have those same struggles,” Mendoza said.

If the referendum is passed, student leaders and administration would meet to discuss a specific timeline for the expansion and renovation of the USU, Mendoza said.

The USU has not been renovated since 1998, and most of the equipment and space is outdated, Mendoza said. The last renovation added a third floor and a west wing to the USU, according to the USU website.

In order to gather information regarding what the students want out of the referendum, the USU and ASI went directly to the students.

“We interviewed, conducted online surveys and held focus groups to find out what the students want,” Mendoza said. “We showed them tentative designs of the renovation outcomes and got a lot of great feedback.”

According to the referendum website, 59 percent of students stated that they were likely to support a renovation or expansion of the USU.

“The referendum proposes to accommodate to current student needs,” Mendoza said. “The most common need is space.”

In many occasions, events held at the Beach Auditorium have had to turn away students due to lack of space, which has a capacity of 250 people, Mendoza said.

Mendoza said the campus population has grown substantially since its opening, and the USU has become more than just a place to eat.

“I hang out here every day I have class,” Abraham Juarez, a sophomore nutrition major, said. “It has a nice environment, but there’s always too many people crowding in the tables. Space is super limited to the students who all seem to congregate here.”

Voting for the USU Referendum fee increase will take place online February 25 and 26. If passed, the construction would begin in summer 2015, according to the referendum website.