411 on the SA
See what students are saying about the Student Association.
Rob Irwin
Issue date: 5/4/05 Section: Student Groups and Activities
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That's what Abbey Terry was doing in the fall of her sophomore year when she stumbled upon a student group that piqued her interest--The Student Voice. "I was looking for a creative outlet, somewhere to speak my mind. So I went to the first meeting and it was definitely for me," said Terry.
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With a budget of roughly $1.5 million dollars, the SA has their hand in nearly every aspect of student life at the university. the SA is in charge of sponsoring campus events, such as the annual Fallfest in the fall and the Parkfest concert in the spring. The SA also funds intramural sports, cultural groups, the student television station, the university's student-run ambulance service (5-Quad), and almost anything else you can think of.
Terry has just recently finished her first year as editor-in-chief of The Student Voice. According to Terry, the job essentially fell into her lap. "Last year's editor, Marissa Levinson, was graduating, and she offered the job out to a couple of the more experienced writers, but no one was really jumping on it. So I did," said Terry.
The funding of groups like The Student Voice magazine isn't always cheap. Included among the costs of tuition are a number of mandatory fees-- one of these being the student activity fee. According to the university's Office of Student Accounts, tuition was $2,175 for full-time undergraduates in the spring of 2005. The student activity fee was $80. The Office of Student Accounts' website, stated that the fee is mandatory for everyone except those who do not have access to campus, such as students who are studying abroad. This fee provides the SA with all of its funding, and in turn funds all SA-sponsored groups.
"I was pretty prepared for the hassles of printing, writing and editing having worked with Marissa on all of those last year. What I wasn't ready to handle was the budget," says Terry. While she doesn't know the exact figure, Terry estimates her budget for the fall and spring semesters of 2004 to 2005 to have been aproximately $9,000. Terry said that she was in charge of distributing this money as she saw fit. Costs included everything from paying the printing company to paying the writers. "I had to aggressively go after advertisers because we were just going to run out of money," said Terry.
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This can be a problem for the SA and some of its groups, Terry said, which is one of the reasons why the SA recently proposed a five dollar increase in the student activity fee. Starting next year, the fee will increase from $80 to $85 per semester. The proposal passed by a wide margin during a student vote held on Apr. 11 and 12, with 81 percent of the votes cast in favor of raising the fee.
Not all students were aware of the proposal. Justin Agrella, a senior at UAlbany, said he would not have voted in favor of the fee if he had known. Agrella said he thinks that students who don't use services of the SA shouldn't have to pay for it.
It was voted on last month whether or not to keep the recently implemented fee. It once again passed, but by an even wider margin-- 91 percent.
This particular vote has come under a great deal more scrutiny than previous years. Recently, the SA was accused, by local media on and off-campus, of mismanaging funds. As recently as last month Michael De Dora, Jr., a student and the editor-in-chief of the Albany Student Press, the largest student newspaper on campus, said in an editorial, "Mainly, I won't vote yes because I feel that the activity fee revenues are being spent inappropriately. Whether it's a bad concert, or a check to cover legal fees, the money is not benefitting the students."
Thomas Shollar, a graduating senior, disagrees. "I think whether we know it or not, the money benefits us. It gives kids a lot more to do with their time than God knows what else we might be doing," said Shollar. "I personally haven't gotten involved with any groups associated with the Student Association but I know plenty of kids who have, and it's only helped them in the long run," Shollar said.
Terry agreed, saying, "My experience with the [The Student Voice] has done so much for me. I'm glad the SA was there to give me the opportunity to do something good for myself and hopefully for some other people too."
UAlbany isn't the only school in the SUNY system where students are required to pay a student activity fee. It would seem that Ualbany's fee is average compared to SUNY at Brockport where the activity fee, according to its website, is $96. Geneseo is the cheapest with its student association requiring $75 per semester, according to its website.
Students like Shollar and Terry agree that they would be willing to pay more money for the student activity fee if need be. "Right now, we're paying something like $150 a semester for athletic programs, and I don't play sports and, to be honest, could care less about Albany athletics, so why should I pay?" said Shollar. Students actually pay $153 per semester for the Intercollegiate Athletics Fee, according to the Office of Student Accounts and this is a mandatory fee as well.
"Way more people are affected by the Student Association than college sports here," said Shollar, "So why all the griping?"
Even with all of the problems Terry faced in her first year as editor-in-chief she is going to do it again next year. "It was such a personal thing. I couldn't give it up for the world," said Terry. Hey, at least she'll never be bored.
Slideshow of student groups and thier various activities around campus. Pictures by Edwina Smith