During its general body meeting last night, the Undergraduate Council of Students passed a unanimous resolution to request an increase of $7 to the student activities fee for next year.
The resolution states that if the University Resources Committee funds this request the fee would rise to $171, which would result in a "total increase of approximately $40,740."
"I feel very confident that it's going to be something that will help UCS continue to meet the needs of the student body," said Ben Farber '12, one of the resolution's co-sponsors.
The original resolution requested a $6 increase in the student activities fee to cover inflation only. But last Wednesday, Farber and others advocated for an increase in the amount in order to also cover student groups' rising costs.
"I felt that it was important that UCS raise the fee to a number that would not exceed our costs but would meet all of our rising costs," Farber said.
Farber added that UCS is not seeking to exceed its costs. "We don't want to exceed our costs in asking for money from students and families because we want to remain sensitive to hardships that they may be going through," Farber said.
Last year, UCS passed a resolution asking for a $54 increase in the student activities fee but URC only granted an increase of $18. Farber was confident that URC would grant the new increase of $7 in full.
Student Activities Chair Ryan Lester '11 was less sure because of the economic situation. "I have absolutely no idea whether the URC will grant the entire request, but I would hope that they would strongly consider it given the evidence behind it," he said.
