Athletic fee fails to pass
Recently, Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) met with faculty and students to discuss a fee increase proposal that would affect incoming freshman and graduate students. Voting opened online on Blue and Gold for students on Monday, Oct.11 and closed on Oct. 12. Students were given a yes or no option of whether they supported an athletic fee increase. The fee would increase from the current $20 a semester to $40 with the intention of supporting the general operations of TAMUK athletics and student athletes. Votes were totaled and the fee increase proposal ultimately did not pass.
“Nearly 1,000 students voted in total – 955 to be exact,” Vice President for Enrollment Services and Student Affairs Dr. Rito Silva said. In the end, 792 students did not support the fee increase and 163 did support the increase proposal.
Emails and reminders by the university were sent out days before voting, encouraging students to log into their accounts and use the voting as an opportunity to make their voices heard. The emails also went into detail as to what the athletic fee increase would go towards, that way students could get a better understanding if they did not attend the available hearing the week of Oct. 4.
The voter turnout appeared to be significantly higher this time than in previous referendums. “This indicates our students are actively participating in the decision-making process on our campus,” Silva said.
Even though multiple fee increase proposals were discussed in an earlier meeting, the athletic fee was the only one that students were able to vote on.
“The University will implement the other fee increases if they are approved by the Board of Regents at their meeting in November. The fee increases would go into effect Fall 2022 and will not affect anyone on the fixed tuition plan. Fee increases of ‘lab fees of $30 or less’ do not need Board of Regents approval and they will be instituted,” Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Lou Reinisch said.
Different students had different reasons for why they voted to either support or not support the proposal.
“I voted no because I don’t want to spend money on resources that are extraneous to me. Financially, this proposal does not make sense for a student who does not want to pay for something they do not use. This is a factor on affordability and ultimately leads to more expenses and an unnecessary amount of money those potential future students have to pay,” sophomore music major Oscar Cantu said.
The university’s affordability draws the attention of many incoming students and makes the campus stand out amongst others.
“Our goal at TAMUK is to keep tuition and fees as low as possible. With that said, at times there is a need to propose an increase in specific fees in order to enhance specific student services,” Silva said.
Students who supported the fee increase were influenced and encouraged to vote with an understanding that the university is in need of changes in certain departments.
“What student athletes like myself have noticed was that our conditions in the school building were not up to par with other universities. It affects me because I would love to attend a school that is top tier and has a nice facility to learn,” junior business marketing major and track and field athlete Felix Hernandez said.
Although the university hosted an open fee hearing for all students and faculty, not many attended to get firsthand information and ask direct questions to those departments who made their proposals and stated their reasons as to why it was needed.
“I truly feel this did not pass because of the lack of knowledge our students had, and that’s why they voted a certain way. Students don’t really attend meetings so if the university were to have taken a different approach in promoting the fee increase, such as posting on social media, sending videos to the students or even allowing professors and faculty to directly speak and propose the increase to the students, then it might have passed,” Hernandez said.
TAMUK focuses on providing all students from all departments an outstanding college experience and that is why it proposed fee increases after years of maintaining the same fees.
“The university will assess how best to move forward now that the athletic fee referendum did not pass,” Silva said.