The Committee for Fees Allocation’s job is done for this year.
Members voted on the last two budgets of Fund B users Thursday night: Campus Recreation’s operations and facilities maintenance budgets.
Fund B covers institutional obligations and student service agencies.
The members’ exit from the Nebraska Union Heritage Room signified a budget that students can expect to pay per semester next year, pending approval from the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska.
Kat Farris, a senior animal science major and subcommittee member, said she and CFA chairman Brian Coburn, a junior biochemistry major, recommended the $125,720 fee increase to a total of $4,966,017 to the operations budget. They chose to do this because Campus Recreation was already making necessary cuts but recognized an additional groundskeeper was necessary.
The recommended budget also included funds to open the rec center 15 minutes earlier each day next year, switching from 6 a.m. to 5:45 a.m.
Jake Mach, a senior biology major, expressed concern for the amount of students and faculty who would use the rec center that much earlier.
“We ran our user statistics for 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., and it’s like our third highest times,” said Stan Campbell, director of the Campus Recreation Center. “It’s one of the higher usage periods during the day.”
Campbell said the issue was debated by the Campus Recreation Student Advisory Council.
“Students who take morning classes need to work out, take a shower and grab their stuff,” said Emily Ives, a senior communication studies major and president of the Campus Recreation Student Advisory Board. “That’s why we felt 15 minutes was necessary, and it seems to work well. I think it would make more people upset if we took it away.”
Campbell said he was interested in opening the rec center early because it showed the advisory board was listening to its users.
CFA unanimously approved the Campus Recreation allocation request.
The second campus recreation budget – the Operation Repair and Improvement of Facilities budget – is different from the first budget because it’s based on a per student, per semester basis. It is tallied up and isn’t based on requesting a total number and dividing it by the number of students. The rec center is asking for the amount it receives per student to stay constant at $16. The total amount would be $708,800.
“It’s an important budget for us to maintain facilities and equipment,” Campbell said.
He said if the repair and improvement budget has to pay for the broken East Campus Recreation Center wall, it would put the fund back $10,000. Other projects, such as building new tennis and basketball courts, would have to be held.
Since Campus Recreation’s last presentation before CFA, a plumbing problem was discovered at the East Campus Rec Center. There is another bulge in the wall that could potentially become a steam leak and an additional bill for the campus rec to pay.
“Kat asked me at what point does this building become a black hole,” Campbell said. “I think we’re close to that point.”
CFA unanimously approved the operation repair and improvement budget of $16 per student per semester.
With the final two votes, CFA increased the amount of total fees for Fund B users from $402.70 to $419.91. The largest increase came from a $12 increase in Debt Services on Facilities to pay for the multicultural center which was approved three years ago in a student referendum. The budgets will be voted on next week by ASUN.
kiahhaslett@dailynebraskan.com
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