Thursday, October 10, 1996
USAC:
$1,000 charge per quarter possible after four-year limitBy Ryan
Ozimek
Daily Bruin Contributor
A proposed surcharge that would penalize students staying longer
than four years in the University of California (UC) system is now
under review by the UC Academic Council and will be on the UC
President’s desk Nov. 1 for comment.
The charge could cost students who do not graduate in four years
up to an estimated additional $1000 per quarter, according to the
proposal.
Drafted by the UC Office of the President this past July, the
draft would take effect in November 1997 with the entering freshman
class, but would not be retroactive to current students.
However, Sandra Smith, assistant vice-president for planning
with the UC President’s office said Wednesday that she felt the
passage of the surcharge would not occur in the near future.
"Discussions have been ensuing, and for the most part, the
feedback has been that this isn’t a good idea," Smith commented.
"As far as I can see, this isn’t going to happen."
Under pressure from Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposed four-year
compact with the higher education system to clean up the UC
system’s financial problems, the President’s Office needed to find
a way to provide a more stable and predictable budget.
A possible solution to these problems was to charge students
taking longer to graduate additional fees to encourage them to
finish school in four years.
Due to the strong ramifications of such a surcharge, the UC
Office of the President decided to send copies of the proposal to
the UC Academic Council, which then handed the proposal to the nine
campuses’ academic senates for review.
Word of the proposed surcharge reached the Undergraduate
Students Association Council (USAC) just three weeks ago through
UCLA’s Academic Senate.
Tuesday night, USAC unanimously passed a resolution that
denounced a surcharge to student fees. The resolution states that
the proposed surcharge, "would adversely affect various student
populations (i.e. underrepresented students, non-traditional
students, single mothers, etc.) within the UC by penalizing them
for trying to finish their degree."
USAC Academic Affairs Commissioner Max Espinoza explained the
reasoning behind the USAC resolution as a protest against
additional student fees.
"The point of the resolution was to send a clear message to the
Office of the President that students are aware of what they are
trying to do to us, and that we are very much against any punitive
measure that they may propose," Espinoza explained.
A major goal of the governor’s compact with higher education
includes having students graduate in four years. By graduating on
time, the proposal says that students would, "… both reduce costs
to students and their families, and increase institutional capacity
to enroll additional students."
According to the proposal, students in the UC system currently
graduate within an average of four years and one quarter.
A surcharge would be an incentive for students to graduate on
time, noting that "… for the most part, institutional factors,
such as insufficient course availability, have not been impediments
to graduation at UC."
Du, however, believed that there were certain institutional
factors that do make it more difficult for students to graduate in
four years.
"I know that as a student, if I need a course and it’s offered
only once a year, I’d have to postpone graduation until that class
was offered," Du said.
Other high-ranking university officials also noted that the
decline in public support has made it harder for students to enroll
in the classes they need to graduate on time.
Students are in a "situation where access to faculty, classes
and academic resources is declining," said UC Student Regent Jess
Bravin. "One of the effects of this is where students have to take
more classes, and as a consequence are spending more time in
school.
"Its the educational equivalent of blaming the victim for the
crime."
In preparation for an increase in student enrollment over the
next few years, the proposal states that improved graduate times
are vital.
"By moving students more quickly through their degree programs,
it it seasoned, more capacity could be generated with which to
accommodate additional students …"
But USAC officials don’t believe that a fee surcharge is the
best way to deal with students taking longer than four years to
graduate in the UC system.
"What we should be doing as a university is looking at those
reasons why students don’t graduate in four years, and try to find
a more proactive solution," Espinoza said.
USAC President John Du agreed that a better solution needs to be
found, claiming that since over 77 percent of all students do not
finish school within four years, the negative effects of such a
charge would be widespread.
"It’s not because we’re lazy, but it’s the difficulty of
affording an education when fees go up and financial aid drops,
forcing students to work more hours and prolonging their stay at
UCLA."
Proponents also believe that a surcharge would help provide more
financial aid and need-based grants so that students would not have
to work as many hours as they do today.
By contrast, USAC officials see such a program helping new
students pay for school, but impeding those that need the financial
aid during their post-four years of education.
"When you penalize students for staying (more than) four years,
you don’t help them, you hurt them," said Michelle Gosom, a USAC
general representative and a member of the UC Educational Policy
Committee.
Although Mike Lassiter, spokesman for UC President Richard
Atkinson, would not comment on the views of the President regarding
the possible surcharge, he did say that such a fee increase would
need to go through the President’s Office and then onto the UC
Regents for a final vote before it could take effect.
The proposal may be one of many measures that the governor’s
office has taken towards privatizing the university, Espinoza
said.
"This is a way to alleviate the responsibility of the state to
provide its citizens an affordable education system," he added.
Although indications from the UC President’s Office show that
the proposed surcharge will be defeated, USAC members said that
they would keep a close eye on the measure.
"Regardless of whether this happens or not, it sends an
indication to students of the kind of thinking coming from the UC
President’s Office," Espinoza said.
"We should be prepared to fight any such proposals, and engage
in any dialogue that would lead to a more constructive solution to
the problems we collectively face."