A previous version of this story represented the fee would be mandatory or optional. SGA clarified the fee would be entirely optional if implemented.

The Student Government Association (SGA) is proposing an optional campus improvement fee that may include purchasing a $100,000 steel eagle.

Zack Mathis, social and cultural issues administrative vice president (AVP), and Nick Mathis, research and development AVP, have advocated for the eagle since November of 2010.

“We started throwing the idea around then,” Zack said.

Nick and Zack proposed adding one dollar to each credit hour of every student or creating a new, optional fee of $10 on students’ bill.

“It would be outside of (the activities fee), so it wouldn’t be affected if the activities fee went up or down,” Nick said.

Nick and Zack asked Mark Rozewski, finance and administration vice president, about the possibility of the new fee, Nick said.

“[The Board of Trustees] probably have the final say in the matter, so we wanted to get their opinion,” Nick said.

Certain committees would decide how the money is spent, he said.

“We sometimes create committees based on need,” Nick said.

Zack said he wants to consult the Office of Planning, Research and Assessment (OPRA) to help get student opinions about the fee.

“We want to include a question about (the fee) on assessment day,” Zack said.

Freshman and seniors take an assessment test April 17.

“That way freshmen could say ‘what I want to see’ and seniors could say ‘what I would have liked to have seen’,” Zack said.

Cost increases for students are viewed with a “critical eye,” Rozewski said.

“These things have to be viewed in the context of other costs,” he said.

Students take about 260,000 credit hours each year, and if SGA added one dollar to each credit hour, it would have more than a quarter of a million dollars at the end of the year.

“It would be very hard to spend the money responsibly,” Rozewski said. “They never explicitly said what it would be used for.”

It is important for USI to maintain its affordability, Rozewski said.

SGA means well in the proposal, but “extravagant beyond their intent,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter how much money SGA has if no one can afford to come here,” Rozewski said. 

He is happy to talk with SGA about its goals, but it cannot happen at the level it is talking about, Rozewski said.

“Our tuition includes fees like this,” he said. “If this passed, some other budget would have to be lowered to compensate.”

No formal process exists to create a new fee, but the Board of Trustees and state standards have final say, Rozewski said.

“Their hearts are in the right place though,” he said.

“There is a history of SGA making suggestions for fees,” Dean of Students and SGA Adviser Barry Schonberger said.

It does not mean SGA will bring it up again, but it is in “diligent discussion” now, Schonberger said.

“SGA is a spokesperson for the students,” Schonberger said. “They help bring those concerns to light.”

Freshman psychology major Chelsea Dolan said because she is not involved in many activities, she wants to keep fees low.

“If I were more involved, maybe I would like the idea, but it would still depend on how it is distributed,” Dolan said.