The time has come and it’s suddenly striking me that our entire lives are a constant memory a part from each passing moment. The saying goes, time flies when you’re having fun, and I can certainly say that’s true for my year serving as the Vice Chair…
Read moreStudents United Fee Increase for 2018-2019 Academic Year
written by | Treasurer Ben Uecker
Hello everyone, this is your State Treasurer Ben Uecker. Since our last delegates assembly in May many of you have been asking whether there have been any updates regarding our 2018/19 budget and proposed fee increase. I am excited to share that we have successfully passed our fee increase through the System Office and have begun making updates to our campus, state, and federal advocacy plans for next year accordingly.
Our new budget
Thanks to the contributions and feedback from our student representatives the Students United Board of Directors Passed the budget package recommended during our May delegates assembly at St. Cloud State University (Budget 3), with the board voting to support additional funding for State & Federal Advocacy, Equity initiatives, and staffing. The fee increase proposed by our board was $0.14, raising the fee from $0.47 to $0.61 per credit. At this fee level Students United would use the remaining $647K in the repurposed building fund over the course of about 6 years.
Finance and Facilities Committee
Students United submitted our proposal for the fee increase to the System Office shortly after the conclusion of our May Board meeting. State Chair Faical Rayani, Vice Chair Lexi Byler, and I presented our proposal to the Board of Trustees: Finance and Facilities Committee during their May 15th Board meeting. Though the committee members had some reservations regarding the fee increase our testimony pacified their concerns. In particular they were interested in our process; how did we decide to propose a fee increase?
We explained that our budget was based on student feedback from all seven state universities. In our presentation and the following questions we noted our fiscal policies and safeguards, as well as highlighted how we had presented the budgets to each of the student associations of each university to gather feedback. Finally, we explained that you, the students, had voted in support of the budget you wanted the Board to approve.
The amount of interest and discussion regarding the finances were overwhelmingly positive and professional this year, and the constructive feedback students provided proved to be extremely beneficial to both myself and the Board as we finalized our FY18/19 budget.
Board of Trustees
On June 20th the Board of Trustees had a second reading of our proposal, and after some discussion decided to adopt the fee increase with an additional amendment. They supported our fee increase of $0.14 and, in addition, wanted to start a greater conversation about student fees as a whole. Consequently, the Board of Trustees amended the Students United fee to be raised by $0.14 for one year, at the end of which it will be reviewed for further consideration. Furthermore, the fees for both Students United and LeadMN, our sister organization that represents 2 year institutions, will be included in a comprehensive study of all Student Fees that the Board of Trustees arranged during their May meeting.
What is next?
Well then, we passed our budget and fee increase…. So what’s next?
Since the budget and fee increase have been finalized our new Board of Directors will begin to plan what types of initiatives and campus activism they want the organization to emphasize for the next year.
Our excellent staff have begun planning new ways to expand our State and Federal Advocacy activities. They are excited to connect more students with their representatives this year to make sure YOUR legislators hear from YOU about student issues.
Finally, this is the last month for the Student United officers. State Chair Facial Rayani, Vice Chair Lexi Byler, and I will be finishing our terms the end of this month. It has been a fantastic experience being your State Treasurer this year. I have had the opportunity to meet numerous students, faculty, staff, and legislators who truly care about the wellbeing and success of students. Furthermore, it has provided me with some new friendships that I hope will last a long time to come.
Don’t worry though, your newly elected officers have shown great drive and intelligence that will no doubt allow them to push the organization to new levels of success. I have great faith in everyone involved that they will excel as individuals and push the organization into its next evolution.
Thank you all for the opportunity to serve Minnesota Students everywhere.
If anyone has questions feel free to email me at treasurer@studentsunited.org
Recap: Understanding & Supporting Undocumented and DACAmented Students
At the annual Academic and Student Affairs Equity & Inclusion conference held at St. Cloud State University, our incoming State Chair Kayla Shelley and our Director of Equity & Inclusion Abeer Syedah presented to a group of systemwide leaders on understanding and supporting the needs of undocumented students. This is a recap of their presentation.
Read moreLGBTQIA+ Resources On Our Campuses
A quick list of LGBTQIA+ resource pages from each of our seven state universities. If the campus has a resource center, that will be the primary link. If not, we linked…
Read moreJune Equity Update
In 2018, we started a monthly diversity blog focused on detailing campus and system updates, events, and national topics of interest that center around equity and inclusion for those interested in staying in the know…
Read moreCommittee Highlight | Highlights from the SMSU Committee's Year
With the end of the 2017-2018 academic year, we, the SMSU campus committee members, wanted to take a walk down memory lane and list what we believe are 10 highlights from a very exciting and rewarding year…
Read moreWhat impacted students this legislative session?
The 2018 state legislative session wrapped up last week. While it was a shorter than usual session, it was still busy. Prior to the session starting, Students United Board of Directors, with the recommendations from the Delegates Assembly, approved their 2018 State Legislative Agenda. The agenda outlined the issue priorities the organization focused on for the legislative session…
Read moreCommittee Highlight | MSU, Mankato Committee Members Reflect on Their Year
Being college students means that we, as students, are in a very strange phase of our lives. Learning to balance academics, personal life, and any other extracurriculars and responsibilities we have. It’s a time of our lives that can be challenging and impactful at the same time…
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