The tuition payments we make each semester do not just pay for our classes: the Student Government Association and the University Activities Council, two organizations created to enhance the Trojan experience, are funded by those costs as well.
Since the removal of a specific “activities fee,” the expenses for these organizations are now rolled into general tuition and fees.
Troy in-state tuition for the 2015-2016 academic year was $287 per undergraduate credit hour, and out-of-state tuition was $574 per undergraduate credit hour. A general university fee of $39 per credit hour was also applied.
For the 2015-2016 academic year, SGA was allotted $41,680, which funded things like homecoming events, buses to sporting events, the annual SGA retreat and online elections.
Additionally, SGA members are required to pay a $25 membership fee.
According to the 2015/2016 Oracle, all students who register in the university become members of the Student Government Association, which seeks to provide an actual laboratory situation for the practice of democracy on the campus.
The purpose of SGA, according to the Oracle, is to provide opportunities for the practice of good citizenship, to promote cooperation and achieve participation in student activities of recognized value.
When asked why students should feel justified in paying toward the SGA budget, SGA treasurer Shelby Miller, a junior global business major from Decatur, said “students should feel justified when they see homecoming festivities around them, when they attend pep rallies and when bills are passed to better enrich their time here.”
According to SGA President Olivia Melton, numerous university honors events are paid for by the SGA budget, such as the Most Outstanding Woman award.
The budget is mainly divided among pre-determined events like homecoming, but when decisions surrounding the budget need to be made, the SGA officers decide where the money goes.
“Officers allocate resources based on the needs of that year,” Miller said. “Some years require a one-time purchase that will last us several years, and other years we don’t have mass purchases.
“The budget is pretty set as far things we have to spend money on. We only get maybe a little wiggle room one year but not by too much.”
For both SGA and UAC, any expense over $500 has to be approved by Dean of Student Services Herbert Reeves, and any expense over $1,000 has to be approved by Senior Vice Chancellor of Student Services John Dew.
For the 2015-2016 academic year, UAC was given $194,018, which funded events like Dollar Movie Night, welcome week events and the Wale concert.
UAC is open for participation to all students interested in development of ideas and programs to entertain the Troy University community.
UAC members are not required to pay a membership fee at any time.
UAC is responsible for the weekly movies on campus, featuring recent releases, as well as the concert during fall and/or spring semester and other events and games throughout the school year.
While the UAC board members and adviser make the final decisions, UAC polls students during the annual Spring Fling event to give them a chance to express where they would like to see their money go.
“We usually take a survey vote at the end of the semester at our Spring Fling, no matter if it’s rained out or not, that specifically asks students what they want to see UAC do next on campus,” said UAC Chairman Khadijah Torbert, a senior broadcast journalism and business administration major from Opelika.
Torbert said that students should view these events as ways to make their college experience more memorable.
“Why wouldn’t students want to put money toward making their collegiate undergraduate experience even more memorable?” Torbert said.
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