Do you really know where and how student activity fees are spent?
By: Joe Vito Moubry

Regardless of which college or university you attend, you are more than likely paying a student activity fee. But do you know how it’s spent?

When Rachel Munson was asked if she thought if students knew how their student activity fee is spent, she stated, “I don’t think that a lot of students know where their student activity fee is spent and that is so unfortunate.”

Munson, a senior at Bemidji State University (BSU), chairs the Student Activity Fee Allocation Committee (SAFAC). SAFAC is the committee that is set up with the primary focus to allocate money obtained from the student activity fee to student clubs and organizations.

In order for an organization to obtain money to operate and put on events, student organizations have to fill out forms that are found on the SAFAC webpage and submit the completed forms to SAFAC.The forms ask questions ranging from how the organization and their events benefit students to why there differences to current and requested budgets, if any, to attendance of meetings and events.

Organizations also are required to submit their proposed budgets and previous fiscal year budget. Upon receiving the completed forms, SAFAC then reviews the forms and then hosts budget hearings for each organization to hear why they’re requesting the funding, as well as asking the organizations questions to clarify any confusion.

When it comes to actually allocating money to organizations, SAFAC usually funds activities that are open to the campus as a whole, explained Munson. Munson said, “As a committee, it is our job to understand that every student is paying the student activity fee. Our logic is that every student should be able, or at least be given the opportunity, to participate in SAFAC funded activities.”

At Vermilion Community College, a similar process occurs. According to Tom Martin, the assistant director of residential life and student life, the student senate reviews proposed budgets and allocates the money obtained from the student life fee.

Unlike BSU though, their student activity fee and athletic fee are combined into a student life fee that the student senate allocates out to the athletic teams to divide amongst themselves and the remaining amount is then divided by the student senate to the student clubs. Using the example of $105,000 collected from student activity fees, Martin said around $80,000 is given to athletics with the remaining $35,000 being divided to student clubs and activities.

Martin listed off bowling nights, movie nights and dances as some of the common activities hosted at VCC. Bowling nights are usually well attended; whereas movie nights are usually a hit or a miss and fall dances usually have a better attendance, according to Martin.

When asked how movies for movie night are selected, Martin explained how the Student Life office at VCC asks the student senate and resident assistants to weigh in. The rational is that both the student senate and resident assistants are around other students and have a pretty good grasp of what their classmates might be interested in.

Madeline Massey, a sophomore at VCC, thinks that the activities that are hosted at VCC are well thought through and create a sense of community. Massey also believes that these activities gives students the option “to really get out of their room and have a shared experience with their classmates.”

And for Munson, she feels that her student activity fees, and other students’ at BSU, are being well spent. But Munson does suggests though that if a student wants to learn more about where their student fees are being spent, to talk with SAFAC members or with the college’s administration.