The Student Fee Recommendation Committee goes through a multi-month process every fiscal year, assigning an important job to its members.
The Student Fee Recommendation Committee, or SFRC, reviews requests made by departments for funding, whether that’s ongoing or one-time use, and makes recommendations on where that money should go. Those recommendations then go through the Student Senate and up to the Board of Trustees.
Student fees are $450.45 for full-time students, distributed across 31 departments, from athletics to visual arts. There are differences between student fees and tuition, with tuition being the cost of instruction, and fees being the cost of virtual and in-person services.
The SFRC comprises three Weber State University Student Association members, two student senators, five students-at-large who apply to join the committee, two full-time faculty members and one designee from the Vice President of Student Access & Success office.
Departments requesting funding must fill out an extensive 13-page form that states what that department’s overall mission is, how it helps students and what type of funding the department wants to receive.
Ongoing funding is consistently given to them throughout the year, while one-time requests are made for just one specific need. The department can request both types of financing rather than just a specific one.
“We start the process in fall, and that’s where departments say how they spent their money last year, and they let us know if they are requesting new funds for the next year,” Jessica Oyler, vice president of Student Access and Success, said.
Consistently, athletics, Campus Recreation and Student Involvement and Leadership get the most funding from student fees. Over the past three years, athletics has been awarded over $2 million, and both Campus Recreation and Student Involvement & Leadership have been awarded over $1 million for every fiscal year.
This year, the biggest ongoing request was from Peer Mentoring, asking for a $92,603.56 increase. The highest one-time request was made by Studio 76, requesting $63,756.57 for a new camera and studio equipment.
The SFRC decided where student fees would go, with only one department, Campus Recreation, getting their full one-time request. Eight departments, from the Counseling & Psychological Services Center to the Utah Transit Authority, also received their full amount for an ongoing request for a fiscal year increase.
“We only have $200,000 in ongoing funding and $100,000 in one-time funding, so we have to be careful about how much money we give to a department because then that can affect another department on campus,” Oyler said.
