Spring Break
Graduate Student Advisory Council requests fee increase
Jessica Leggin / Campus Editor
Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: News
Tasha Dunn, the vice president for public relations for the Graduate Student Advisory Council, said when she attended a national conference for graduate students and told other schools of Eastern's current graduate student budget, they laughed.
"Based on the money and what they do, they have so many opportunities for their students that we don't have," said the graduate communication studies major.
The graduate fee for Eastern students is $2 compared to other universities who charge more. At the University of Cincinnati, the graduate student fee is $40 and at Western Michigan University it's $21.
Rodney Ranes, director of graduate admissions and adviser for GSAC, said the council has been hesitant to raise the fee given the rising cost of attendance. "GSAC has worked to use what resources were available without requesting a fee increase each year, and the Graduate School has helped supplement activities in the past," he said.
Recently, members of GSAC sent a proposal to the Student Affairs Office to request a fee increase of $10.
Dunn said the members wanted to shoot high in order to leave some room for them to compromise.
"Given the state of the economy, we were easily shot down," she said. "They suggested to us that we come back with another proposal to just increase it by a dollar."
After the members proposed the dollar, members were asked to lower the price again to 50 cents.
Dunn said she was surprised that the dollar proposal was also denied. "We thought we were going to get that dollar," she said. "When we found out that we were shot down to 50 cents some of were disappointed."
The $2 student graduate fee has been implemented since 2004 when it was raised from $1.
Ranes said the fee is a prorate fee, meaning that graduate students only have to pay 20 cents per credit hour until they register for 10 hours.
"More than half of the students at the graduate level enroll on a part-time basis and do not pay the entire $2," he said.
Funds collected through the graduate fee are used for events such as the Graduate Exposition in April, which allows students to present research they have done throughout the year.
GSAC also provides social events for graduate students and representation at the Regional and National Association of Graduate and Professional Student Conference.
Ranes said the conference is the advocate at the national level for graduate students to address graduate education concerns and provide extra student insurance for graduate students.
"We go to the conference when the budget allows," he said.
Ranes said a budget increase would help to maintain the Graduate Expo and the Graduate Scholar, which highlights graduate student achievements.
"GSAC has also identified other projects like monetary travel awards and research awards as future initiatives to support graduate education," he said.
Ricel Valdes, graduate student dean, said every year GSAC always runs in the red when it comes to the budget.
"We want to get out of this negative zone without any other exterior help," said the political science major. "GSAC wants to fill this gap. We want to be able to give our graduate students professional opportunities and to extend our services like other graduate universities do."
Valdes said when the graduate program needs more money for events, they request money from the graduate school.
"The Graduate School will help us cover the rest but we want to stop being dependent and become an independent organization on campus," she said.
Jessica Leggin can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmleggin@eiu.edu.
"Based on the money and what they do, they have so many opportunities for their students that we don't have," said the graduate communication studies major.
The graduate fee for Eastern students is $2 compared to other universities who charge more. At the University of Cincinnati, the graduate student fee is $40 and at Western Michigan University it's $21.
Rodney Ranes, director of graduate admissions and adviser for GSAC, said the council has been hesitant to raise the fee given the rising cost of attendance. "GSAC has worked to use what resources were available without requesting a fee increase each year, and the Graduate School has helped supplement activities in the past," he said.
Recently, members of GSAC sent a proposal to the Student Affairs Office to request a fee increase of $10.
Dunn said the members wanted to shoot high in order to leave some room for them to compromise.
"Given the state of the economy, we were easily shot down," she said. "They suggested to us that we come back with another proposal to just increase it by a dollar."
After the members proposed the dollar, members were asked to lower the price again to 50 cents.
Dunn said she was surprised that the dollar proposal was also denied. "We thought we were going to get that dollar," she said. "When we found out that we were shot down to 50 cents some of were disappointed."
The $2 student graduate fee has been implemented since 2004 when it was raised from $1.
Ranes said the fee is a prorate fee, meaning that graduate students only have to pay 20 cents per credit hour until they register for 10 hours.
"More than half of the students at the graduate level enroll on a part-time basis and do not pay the entire $2," he said.
Funds collected through the graduate fee are used for events such as the Graduate Exposition in April, which allows students to present research they have done throughout the year.
GSAC also provides social events for graduate students and representation at the Regional and National Association of Graduate and Professional Student Conference.
Ranes said the conference is the advocate at the national level for graduate students to address graduate education concerns and provide extra student insurance for graduate students.
"We go to the conference when the budget allows," he said.
Ranes said a budget increase would help to maintain the Graduate Expo and the Graduate Scholar, which highlights graduate student achievements.
"GSAC has also identified other projects like monetary travel awards and research awards as future initiatives to support graduate education," he said.
Ricel Valdes, graduate student dean, said every year GSAC always runs in the red when it comes to the budget.
"We want to get out of this negative zone without any other exterior help," said the political science major. "GSAC wants to fill this gap. We want to be able to give our graduate students professional opportunities and to extend our services like other graduate universities do."
Valdes said when the graduate program needs more money for events, they request money from the graduate school.
"The Graduate School will help us cover the rest but we want to stop being dependent and become an independent organization on campus," she said.
Jessica Leggin can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmleggin@eiu.edu.
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