Last week ULM brought out a proposal to the University that might get some students fired up.
The proposal is enforcing the student spirt and athletic enhancement fee (SSAEF) of $10.00 per credit hour for all the Fall, Spring, Summer, and interim sessions for students taking one or more hours.
This fee will support recognized student organizations including ULM spirt groups, Greek Life, Sound of Today/ Technical Fowls, ULM choral, SGA, CAB and the Ski team to assist with their operations.
Let’s take into consideration ULM is one of the cheapest Universities to attend if not the lowest in tuition in the state. Some people may say $10.00 isn’t asking too much from the students to pay per credit hour.
Being an athlete I notice a lot of people already look at us as the “privileged” group on campus.
Either we get everything for free or some other theory that people make up about college athletes.
Being a football player, we do a lot of things to raise money for our program from hosting events to getting alumni to donate funds. Also, selling shirts and other Warhawk gear to raise funds for athletics. Making students pay $10 per credit hour for a sprit and athletics enhancement fee is just something I don’t believe in.
I believe that students come to school to get their education in a field of their choice, everything else is just a plus.
Aside of paying tuition, universities add on plenty of other school fees that students have no idea about.
ULM athletics compete in several “money” games, which gives universities like ULM the opportunity to travel to the opposing teams home field to play them for a lump sum of money.
This year the football team traveled to Texas A&M for 1.4 million dollars to play the Aggies. Where is that money going? Isn’t it supposed to be going towards athletics and traveling for spirt groups.
Well that money goes to help better our campus in different areas as well as help fund our athletic teams when they travel to play these power 5 teams.
1.4 million dollars may seem like a lot of money but to a University it isn’t a lot of money once a little is put here and there.
I don’t think our problem is we don’t have the money.
I think our problem is budgeting because the money is here the problem is how is it being distributed? Say this proposal gets passed. Will it be enough money?
Or will students get another email from the university asking for more money that they’ll never see.
Like the new Bayou Point building that students have to pay and outrageous fee to reserve. If you ask me I disagree with this proposal and I am fully against it.
The motion to approve the referendum was passed unanimously by the SGA summer senate on Monday, July 9.
Upon approval by the ULS Board of Supervisors, the referendum will be voted on by the University of Louisiana Monroe student body during the Fall 2018 Homecoming elections. If passed the (SSAEF) will go in effect Spring 2019.