The dust settled late Tuesday evening as the Student Activity and Service Fee Advisory Committee (SASFAC) reconvened for the final budget hearing discussing the General University Fee, a mandatory charge every University of Connecticut student pays. The meeting included presentations by the Athletics division, Recreation department, Student Union and Student Health and Wellness.
The hearing followed the first session, held Thursday Nov. 14. That meeting outlined how the General University Fee would be used to support the Athletic Bands program and Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts as well as the Student Activities department and the One Card system. Similarly, the second hearing was held in the Student Recreation Center’s Husky Suite A and had an opportunity for public comment.
The first presentation of the night came from the Athletics division, which largely uses General University Fee funding to pay for student employees in their marketing and sport management areas, according to the attachment they’ve submitted to the SASFAC. They say the money from the General University Fee allows for student team managers to travel to more contests and allows for the hiring of social media interns for Olympic-class sports like soccer and field hockey. Previously, these teams did not have much, if any, social media coverage.
“Roughly 60% of the content we post on our UConn Athletics social media accounts is made by students… [GUF funding] gives students real life experience, working directly with high profile coaches and staff and allows them to plan and propose social media campaigns,” the Athletics report reads.
They aren’t asking for an allocation increase this time around – the document says that Athletics also receives revenue through ticket sales, donations and through agreements with sponsors and media outlets, and their current budget schedule will be enough to sustain their initiatives through fiscal year 2027. Athletics currently receives $5,557,411 annually from General University Fee funding, according to their SASFAC budget projection form.
The Student Union also presented their case, asking for a $100,000 funding allocation increase. Preventative maintenance projects have been reduced in scope or delayed to adjust the Student Union’s spending according to their SASFAC narrative. They claim that a significant portion of the current budget “supports services for other departments,” and the increase would contribute to balancing which services they will be able to provide in addition to repairs and enhancements to the complex.
One of the building improvement projects described is the conversion of traditional lock-and-key systems to controlled access, where employees or students would be able to use their ID card or another credential to access facilities and services. The Student Union went through a major renovation and expansion in the early 2000s, re-opening in its current form in 2006; their SASFAC attachment explains that increased fee funding will be used for replacement and refurbishment of furniture and fixtures within the building from that era, like the re-upholstery of chairs and couches.
Two of the organizations that petitioned at the hearing receive funding from student fees outside of the General University Fee – the Recreation department, which manages the Student Recreation Center Fee, and Student Health and Wellness, which has its own fee as well.
The Bursar’s office describes the Student Recreation Center fee as being for “the operations and construction of the state of the art facility” and adds that it is required and non-waivable for any student matriculated at UConn’s main campus in Storrs-Mansfield. The Recreation department’s SASFAC submission notes that they do receive revenue from this separate fee, but it is dependent on student enrollment figures. Recreation also receives money from non-student memberships, $15/day guest passes and pay-to-play programs they host, the document says. According to the packet, they use General University Fee funding to pay for professional salaries and benefits – using the SRC fee for operational expenses and the student employee payroll.
“We are reaching a critical mass…We have not been able to keep up with the costs for professional salaries and student employment costs,” said Jay Frain, interim executive director of the Recreation department, at the meeting.
They’re requesting an additional $110,000 in GUF funding for fiscal year 2026 and then a 3.8% increase to $120,000 for fiscal year 2027. In the meeting, Jay Frain and SRC Assistant Director of Business and Member Services Melissa Frain explained that the money would primarily cover the minimum wage increase for student employees and allow them to maintain or expand the current hours of operation for the Student Recreation Center. Their narrative says that if the fee allocation is not increased, they’ll have to reduce hours and eliminate services – possibly with the pay-to-play model for classes and facilities that are currently available to students at no additional charge.
Student Health and Wellness currently receives funding from the SHaW fee, not from the General University Fee. However, the fee is managed contemporaneously by the SASFAC and the budget hearings were designed to have their components discussed similarly.
ShaW describes that most of their services are directly funded by student fees, including its 24/7 advice nurse line, infirmary clinical and overnight services, management of public health situations and health service promotion and outreach programs. They do receive minimal state funding for regional campus health services and also have access to certain UConn Foundation and grant funding, which they say supports programs like the UConn substance-free living program.
“We work with students for input on programming and services, using various tools to get feedback…this student feedback and recommendations are integrated into the SHaW planning and strategic direction, which ultimately affects how we allocate resources,” their document explains.
Their office is asking for the continuation of fee funding so that they don’t have to reduce staffing and impose longer wait times for clinical and mental health services. A chart they attached says that they have over 75 staff members with an over 35-hour-a-week workload alongside additional student employees.
We are reaching a critical mass…We have not been able to keep up with the costs for professional salaries and student employment costs
Jay Frain, Interim Executive Director of the Recreation Department
The General University Fee is expected to be increased by $98 next year, resulting in a $491 annual charge for undergraduate students.
A slate of hearings to discuss the Student Activities fee, which financially supports Tier III student organizations, will be held in the Spring 2025 semester.
For more information on the Student Activity and Service Fee Advisory Committee and for the hearing transcript and attachments, visit sfac.uconn.edu.