The Utah State University Fee Board is now hearing proposals for a student fee increase for next year. Utah State student advocate vice president, Matthew Clewett, is part of the board that makes the final decision about fee increases.
“There’s four fees that are being proposed which vary differently in the amounts that they want, in the use that it’s going to be used for and a lot of different factors in there as well,” Clewett said. “Fees that we discuss at fee board are the departments that requested a fee increase, or sometimes a new fee being proposed as well.”
Dr. Jim Davis was the first to put in for a fee increase for the Health and Wellness Center at USU. He says the fee increase will help students receive access to the quality care they need.
“We like to make sure we are of value for the students,” Davis said. “We like to make sure we use their money wisely. We have never really gone to the students to ask for money in order to develop a savings account. We’re not doing that on the backs of students. We’re just really trying to cover the costs, the actual costs, of providing services to them.”
USU’s Counseling and Psychological Services is asking for a new fee to support and fund the center. Utah State student body president, Ashley Waddoups, fully backs the fee proposal.
“The one fee that I know I’m absolutely want on the record I’m in favor of is the new CAPS fee,” Waddoups said. “I love the new CAPS fee because it gets us a new counselor, pays for all their benefits — everything at the CAPS Center, and then they can take on 40 something students every week. So having that councilor will decrease wait times [and] get more students the help that they need. It won’t hurt me, it won’t affect me at all, besides the fact of knowing that hopefully a student who needed counseling services will get it.”
A meeting is scheduled for Feb. 8 to vote on the final fee proposals. Students will vote on the CAPS fee near the end of spring semester.