The General Fee Advisory Committee will only have to rank four fee categories instead of eight as it prepares its recommendations for next fiscal year.
Previously, the committee funded eight units, but this year, four units were either merged with another unit or moved off General Fee funding altogether, said Becky Watts, chief of staff to Ohio University President Roderick McDavis.
The four units still funded by the General Fee are: Division of Student Affairs, Intercollegiate Athletics, the Graduate College and the OU Marching 110.
"This was an easy change to help consolidate and save money," said Jesse Neader, Student Senate president and a member of the committee. "It's also logical from a university standpoint it was an easy decision, and it made sense."
The General Fee Advisory Committee ranks units according to which should receive the most money. The committee has 10 members, nine of whom are students appointed by either Student Senate or McDavis.
Campus Recreation, which was previously its own category, is now part of the Division of Student Affairs. Arts for Ohio, the Office for Diversity, Access and Equity and Parking and Transportation Services now receive money from the General Fund, which is composed of tuition, fees and state funds. These three units used to receive money from the General Fee.
The change came after OU officials decided Arts for Ohio should be treated as an academic, rather than a co-curricular, unit. Officials also wanted to streamline the Office for Diversity, Access and Equity's overall budget.
"The goal was to simplify the budget structure of the office," said Ann Fidler, executive associate provost, in an e-mail. "Prior to last year, a small part of the office - the Lindley Multicultural Center and Disability Services - was on the General Fee. Putting the entire unit on the General Fund allows them to coordinate budget expectations across all of their offices."
The General Fee Advisory Committee hopes to present its funding recommendations to McDavis by March 1, and Neader said the report will be more detailed this year because there are fewer units to examine and prioritize.
"Instead of having a whole bunch of different categories to look at, we have fewer categories, so we get to go in-depth and look at piece-by-piece what they do," Neader said.
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