In less than two weeks, Ohio University administrators will present before OU’s top governing body a possible solution to future budget woes.
The update being presented to the Board of Trustees at its April 19 meeting will center around guaranteed tuition, a topic the two Student Senate presidential candidates have been sparring over since election season began.
“No action or vote will take place (at the meeting). Our Board of Trustees cannot make any decision regarding a new tuition program without legislation being passed by the Ohio General Assembly,” said Jennifer Kirksey, chief of staff to OU President Roderick McDavis, in an email. “The guaranteed tuition plan we are discussing is all-inclusive — tuition, all fees and room and board. That is quite unique.
“We anticipate that if the General Assembly passes tuition guarantee legislation it will be permissive. Therefore, all Ohio public universities would have the option to offer a guaranteed tuition plan.”
At the meeting, Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit and Vice President for Finance and Administration Stephen Golding will provide details on how the model will help students, their families and the university better budget their money, Kirksey said.
The Ohio General Assembly could approve the model by June 30, but OU would not implement it until Fall Semester of 2014 or 2015, according to a previous Post article.
Both VOICE and FUSS, the two tickets running for Student Senate executive positions, oppose any tuition increase as well as guaranteed tuition based on OU’s current data. However, VOICE’s presidential candidate Nick Southall said he is open to hearing more about the model, adding FUSS’s strong opposition is premature.
“This idea that something huge is going to happen about guaranteed tuition before the end of the school year, if that’s perpetuated purposely — that’s a scare tactic,” he said, of the opposing ticket’s rhetoric.
Matt Farmer, the presidential senate candidate for FUSS — which stands for Fighting to Uphold Student Solidarity — and the other members of his ticket have said multiple times that regardless of election results, FUSS will appear at the board meeting to oppose the guaranteed tuition model.
“We’re going to listen to what they have to say at the board meeting, but there’s no reason to believe that it’s something to be good for students,” Farmer said. “They could be doing things … Finding ways to address student debt, not creative accounting that makes it seem like they aren’t going to be raising tuition every year.”
Neither FUSS nor VOICE will support a tuition increase for next year if the administration asks the board to approve one, according to the tickets’ respective candidates.
“We do have an important task to bring the student voice into the conversation (on guaranteed tuition),” Southall said. “If you look at it, it’s not immediate — it’s not urgent. What’s urgent right now is next year’s (tuition increase).”
dd195710@ohiou.edu
