Three undergraduate Tier III student organizations at the University of Connecticut are requesting more funding from student activity fees. Representatives from the Undergraduate Student Government (USG), Nutmeg Publishing and The Daily Campus went before the Student Activity and Service Fee Advisory Committee (SASFAC) on Wednesday to officially request the fee increase.
Every student enrolled at UConn pays mandatory fees, which support university programs and services. One of these fees, the student activity fee, supports Tier III organizations, a group of clubs which the Department of Student Activities describes as having a “high accountability to a large constituency of students” and rely on the university for support services. There are six currently active undergraduate Tier III groups: USG, the Student Union Board of Governors (SUBOG), WHUS Radio, the Daily Campus, Nutmeg Publishing and UCTV.
The Office of the Bursar lists the student activity fee as $96 per semester this year for students enrolled at the main campus in Storrs, regardless of credits. Each eligible student organization receives only a portion of that fee funding, with the highest two being USG at $45 and SUBOG at $23. The Daily Campus receives $10, followed by WHUS at $9, UCTV at $5 and Nutmeg Publishing at $4.
Nutmeg Publishing is asking for the largest fee increase, $7 this time, from $4 to $11 per semester. USG has requested a $5 increase from $45 to $50 per semester and The Daily Campus is asking for $2 more dollars per student per semester, from $10 to $12.
These three student groups, along with UCTV, unsuccessfully requested increases in Spring 2024. Students vote on whether to approve the student activity fee increase as part of a referendum included in the annual joint elections ballot, part of the same mechanism to elect new representatives for USG. This year, students will be able to vote in mid-march according to the Trustee Student Organization Support office.
Every Tier III student organization had to submit documentation to the committee, regardless of whether they were requesting a fee increase. The groups’ packets go into detail about why the fee increases are justified.
Nutmeg Publishing, the student organization which produces the annual yearbook, explained that they’ve “fallen behind” in printing and distributing the yearbooks to graduated seniors.
“The 2023 graduates just received their yearbooks this past summer in July 2024,” wrote business manager Garrett Hutchinson in the group’s document. “The 2024-25 book will be completed by June 2025, but won’t be able to be printed until after the next fiscal year begins.”
The group also explained that previous yearbooks were of a higher quality than the styles they are able to provide under the current funding structure, limiting page count and printing options and cutting staff in an effort to reduce expenses. Nutmeg currently receives the lowest cut of Tier III funding.
USG wants a fee increase to fund Tier II organizations, the group says in its SASFAC attachment. According to UConn’s “Blueprints” manual for student organizations, Tier II clubs are eligible to request funding from USG for events and club initiatives, but do not receive any separate fee income.
“We have received 646 funding requests from 140 different [Tier II organizations],” said USG comptroller Sydney Whittaker in their packet. “It is not feasible for all students to be able to enhance their co-curricular experience at UConn by paying out of pocket for all of these expenses.”
USG had to discontinue offering funding to Tier II clubs last year because requests far exceeded the amount of available funding USG had to offer. They would also like the fee increase to go toward programs formerly supported by Praxis (PIRG) funding, including Wepa printing credit and access to the New York Times. Praxis, another Tier III student organization, was dissolved by the university in 2022 and its budget was re-allocated to USG.
The Daily Campus, the third organization to request a funding increase this year, said it may have to stop the daily printing of the campus newspaper and reduce newsgathering if it does not receive more fee funding.
“If we are forced to further downsize…we would no longer be a daily print newspaper,” said business manager Naiiya Patel in the organization’s submission. “We will be unable to meet student demands to cover critical issues such as stories on club events, administrative issues, or daily life on campus.”
During the hearing, the SASFAC committee questioned if The Daily Campus could receive alternative revenues from advertising. While not out of the question, Patel and Editor-in-Chief Sara Bedigian explained that keeping advertising prices competitive and retaining business relationships have suffered significantly since the choice to consolidate the organization’s former paid staff roles in advertising and circulation into the business manager’s responsibilities in order to save money.
Nationwide data from the News Media Alliance shows that traditional newspaper circulation and revenue have been down since 2013, as more people decide to consume news through multimedia platforms. In an effort to build up its digital adequacy, the Daily Campus has established webpage advertising rates — including a rate for students and clubs — to attempt to receive income from page views received on dailycampus.com.
SUBOG, WHUS and UCTV did not request a fee increase this year, but each group cited that they’d like to expand and improve the programs they conduct for students. Tier III organizations must also meet other eligibility requirements to receive more fee funding.
The Graduate Student Senate, a group receiving student activity fee funding from enrolled graduate students, was also heard by SASFAC. They are requesting an additional $2 from $16 to $18 to fund graduate-level Tier II clubs and to support collaborations between interdisciplinary events and graduate students. Regional campus students also pay a student activity fee, which goes to their campus’ associated student governments. The SASFAC held a hearing on their allocations on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
The SASFAC committee is an advisory group that recommends changes to the university’s fee structure. The provost and vice presidents for student life and finance receive their report and can choose to endorse or amend fee proposals, which ultimately get considered by the Board of Trustees. The committee is comprised of staff members, including the bursar and representatives from the Office of Budgets and Planning, in addition to student delegates. In addition to representing Tier III organizations, Whittaker and Patel both hold committee seats. David Clokey, the assistant vice president for student life and enrollment, chairs the committee and ran the hearing.
The general university fee will also be increasing, as part of a similar hearing conducted by SASFAC in the fall. That fee supports the Student Union, Student Health and Wellness, Athletics and other Student Activities-sponsored programs among other university services.
For more information on the Student Activity and Service Fee Advisory Committee and for the hearing transcript and attachments, visit sfac.uconn.edu.