Funding hundreds of activities, sports, departments and salaries, Ohio University’s General Fee provides key day-to-day support throughout campus — though students only directly have a say in the use of 1.8 percent, or $469,127, of the millions they pay.
The General Fee, paid largely by undergraduate students and in smaller part by graduate students, totaled $25.7 million in 2013 at OU, less than 10 percent of the Instructional Fee that generated almost $270 million.
General Fee money controlled directly by students includes $40,000 for Homecoming, $20,718 for OU Student Senate, $3,000 for Graduate Student Senate, and $405,409 for the Senate Appropriations Commission.
The General Fee costs $1,256 per semester for any undergraduate or graduate student taking between 12 and 20 credit hours on the Athens campus, according to the Office of the Bursar.
However, the General Fee for graduate students is reduced substantially by the Graduate Fee Waiver Pool — to the tune of $1.2 million. The fund was designed to lower the cost of attending OU for graduate students while being paid for by undergraduates, said Chad Mitchell, OU’s budget director.
The largest draw on the fee is Intercollegiate Athletics at 34 percent, or $8,793,000. Graduate Student Senate receives the least funding, according to General Fee reports.
Since 2001, OU has seen a drop in State Share of Instruction of 37.5 percent, from $5,551 per student in 2001 to $3,465 per student in 2012, when adjusting for inflation, according to the agenda from the February meeting of the OU Board of Trustees. In part because of the drop, the General Fee has increased in recent years.
State Share of Instruction will increase 1.9 percent in 2014 and 2015, according to Governor John Kasich’s proposed budget, which was released Feb. 4. However, the General Fee will probably not drop as a result, Mitchell said.
“The budget cuts we’ve implemented over the past 10 years … deal with the impact of ‘How does the university deal with the reduction of state funding as well as the impact of cost increases?’ ” Mitchell said. “(So) I would probably say no, you don’t see an instance where you see cuts to (students fees).”
The General Fee Advisory Committee, a non-decision-making body of students, and Mitchell are tasked with making recommendations to OU President Roderick McDavis on how to allocate student dollars, and they have had more student money to work with because of the drop in state funding.
“I’ve never heard in my four years … that President McDavis had not read recommendations (from) the General Fee (Advisory Committee),” said Student Senate President Zach George, who is also chair of the committee. “Typically what’s decided in the (committee) is what happens.”
The committee drafts and votes to approve a report sent to McDavis at the end of each year, outlining where student money should be spent — a document George doubts will differ much from past years.
“I imagine this year will be fairly consistent (concerning recommendations),” he said.
dd195710@ohiou.edu
