Student Activities Fee Increases

Boston College recently announced that tuition will increase for the upcoming year, but who was really surprised to hear that? One of the contributing factors to the increase in tuition is that the University will increase the student activities fee for the second year in a row, from $190 to $244 per student. The fee will also see an increase during the 2011-2012 school year as the final part of a 3-year program. Many students may not even be aware of the student activities fee, but its purpose is to have a big impact on the everyday life of Boston College students.

$244 may not seem like a lot of money in the grand scheme of tuition, but it is a lot of money when you consider that its sole purpose is to be devoted to the betterment of the student body through clubs and organizations. The money, then, will be allocated to different groups on campus and used to help support new groups as they are formed. Of the dozens of clubs and organizations listed on the Boston College website, I found one that was particularly amusing: the Boston College Mahjong Club. Now, not to single out the Mahjong Club and its members, but this club just doesn’t have an impact on my everyday life, and I’d say that’s the case for the majority of Boston College students. So I would be a little uneasy if this $54 increase went towards supporting Mahjong tournaments from which I will never reap any benefit. But I’m just speculating here; I know not whether the increase in fee will have any impact whatsoever on this particular club.

Another one of its purposes, though, is to increase the options of late-night programming offered to students on the weekends, which is something that would definitely impact the average student more so than, say, the Mahjong Club. This could either be a great thing, or a huge waste of time. Late-night programming can be a great alternative to drinking in a college dorm room on a Friday night for many students, but it could also be extremely unappealing depending on what activities are planned. For example, I think I would be a little disappointed if the increase in the student activities fee was dedicated to hosting Bingo on Friday nights, or hosting a dance in the Vanderslice Cabaret Room that is more or less unattended. To prevent something like this from happening, the Office of Student Affairs plans to survey students to find out which proposed events are most popular; these surveys are crucial to guaranteeing the success of this program and justifying an increase in the student activities fee.

Dedicating a portion of the tuition to student activities is a good thing, but only if the students have some input in what events are planned. What’s disconcerting about this increase is that it’s happening for the second year in a row, and yet I haven’t experienced any change in my late-night programming tendencies or experience with clubs on campus within the last year. And that’s not to say that I’m not involved on campus or don’t leave my room on the weekends; I am, and I do. So with this increase, let’s hope that the students have a bigger say in the programs, because offering alternative on-campus events is a great way to separate BC weekends from those of any other college campus. And, frankly, a $54 increase when compared with how much is already being spent on tuition is nothing so long as the students are the ones who benefit.

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