Transparency in school fees
Content
Thomas Jefferson's Dream...In the Mountains ...or has it become his Nightmare! By Robert M. Davis The University of Virginia's College at Wise shows a statuesque figure of Thomas Jefferson overlooking a setting sun sinking behind the Appalachian mountains with the tag line, “Thomas Jefferson’s Dream...In the Mountains”. I now know why that setting was chosen...as the setting sun is representative of the night that is to come and with it the fears President Thomas Jefferson had of government; “We might hope to see the finances of the Union as clear and intelligible as a merchant's books, so that every member of Congress and every man of any mind in the Union should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and consequently to control them."(Thomas Jefferson, 1802). Jefferson credited Albert Gallatin who served as President Jefferson’s Secretary of Treasury for the full eight years of his Presidency with being the first person to document every receipt and every expenditure of the federal government, in such a manner that “every man of any mind” could understand(Thomas Jefferson leadership, 2011). Unfortunately the school that claims itself as the fulfillment of Thomas Jefferson’s dream has instead been more fulfilling of his nightmare. Transparency and openness at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise today would not be fulfilling of Thomas Jefferson’s dream...for the simple reason that the documentation of every expenditure by the College is not done in such a manner that he would give praise to as a manner in which “every man of any mind” could understand. This is most evident in in the collection of information relating to what we pay for in out student fee? Have you ever noticed your bill or invoice you receive from the college? It of course outlines any scholarships you have received in addition to the loans you have taken out to cover the costs of your academic year for attendance at the college. Now look in particular at the costs portion of your bill; you see the costs you pay for housing (if a resident student) and the costs of your meal plan, your tuition and student fees...but have you ever wandered where $3,174.00 comes from??? What does it pay for? If you are like me and never really looked into it, believe me you may find yourself surprised when you do! A. Barton Finkle an opinion writer for the Richmond Times Dispatch wrote a piece that stated that as Governor of the Commonwealth Bob McDonnell begins requesting state agency heads to begin looking at another round of cuts to their budgets for the upcoming biennium budget, that perhaps it was time for colleges and universities to begin looking at making cuts to their athletic programs to help offset the increasing rise in financial costs that students and their families are having to bear as a result of reduced funding from the State. Finkle's rationale is two fold, one; athletic programs cost a lot of money, and two; they have nothing to do with the purpose of a university. USA Today reported in October of 2010 that out of the schools they investigated, at least six schools in the state of Virginia charged each student more than $1,000 as an athletic fee for the 2008-2009 school year. William and Mary Professor of English Terry L. Meyers wrote a piece for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in their Winter 2006 release titled Higher Education's Dirty Little Secret Hidden college fees have become a "stealth tuition" . Professor Meyers brings to the lights that as politicians and families outcry over the rising costs of attending college the finger is often pointed to the rising increases in tuition (and they are rising your tuition this year rose at a rate of 8.5%) but many of
those in academe of Public Universities and College's in the Commonwealth/Nation have a dark little corner that receives relatively warranted attention. That tuition is not the sole culprit responsible for your rising costs of attendance it is also fees...more particular mandatory non-educational and general fees and that they stay out of mentioning from the furor of politicians and families ire is because they are so often hidden. Professor Meyers notes that one fee in particular seems not to get much attention; that fee being the money that students pay for intercollegiate sports i.e. football and basketball being the main recipients of those funds. Large schools such as UVA, and Virginia Tech which have television income and large benefactors help offset the costs that students have to pay to subsidize these athletic programs...but smaller schools, those in particular that do not have the benefit of television income or rich benefactors aren't able to offset the costs of operating that athletic program, and as such the burden is placed on the backs of students through fees which are quite high to help offset those operational costs. These fees are high in part because they are carefully tucked away and secretly grow (rise in costs) with no one paying attention except for those that have an interests in keeping them out of sight. “There is no transparency and hence no constituency to act as a brake” as Professor Meyers states. Fees can be abused either through silence or by institutional deceitfulness that borders on untruthful. Even if the information is made available it is likely to be found in places that many families and students wouldn't know where to look. This information is not made available either through the main UVA Wise website, its official college catalog, or in any of the accessible files through the office of finance and administration's budget office...that information simply is not available to you, your parents, or even the citizens of the Commonwealth. When I tried asking for the information directly from the office of finance and administration’s budget office I was repeatedly referred to a single piece of documentation that I had already located prior to my request of the information and it did not contain the information I was looking for (email me and I will send you all the correspondence I had through email between myself and the office about locating this information). It was not until I had contacted the state agency Department of Planning and Budget where I was able to find a contact at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia that I was able to find access to this information in determining where exactly $3,174.00 in student fees comes from. This time consuming and diligent searching constituted hours of time in addition to bouncing between multiple state agencies in the commonwealth to find the information I had simply asked to see from the college. In the College's defense I will say they said I was more than welcome to travel down and have a sit in with their office to address any questions I had as email was simply not working in being able to facilitate my request. However, the information I sought is and will forever be constituted as public record (unless state law changes that)...that means myself, you, that guy in Henson hall room 211, and the lady at the register at B line has access to see this documentation upon request. However, how many students, you, yourselves would take the time to hunt down, email, and spend hours in collecting or finding this information? How about your parents? If you are not paying for school I am sure your parents are...should they not have the ease of accessibility to this information? Should you have a right to know what you are spending your money on? Should you know as a student who may be borrowing thousands and thousands of dollars to go to college know exactly how your money is being spent? Of course you do! You should be able to go into your student catalog or get on the UVA Wise web site and see exactly what your money is being used for...not just “student fee: $3,174.00” but instead you should see (for academic year 2011-2012)
Title Athletic Debt service Operation/maintenance Scholarship* Student organizations TOTAL
Amount Per Student $1,098.66 $1,231.79 $743.00 $90.55 $200.00 $3,384.00
% Change from last year 9.5% Increase -9.0% Decrease 18.9% Increase (New for 2011-2012) 10.2% Increase 8.0% Increase
(Author's Note: The scholarship fee was a newly implemented fee for the 2011-2012 Academic year. All full time undergraduate students are required to pay a $90 annual fee to fund athletic scholarships for student athletes. That means in addition to the $1,098.66 in athletic fees students (non athletes) pay an additional $90.55 fee to fund athletes scholarships to pay for their tuition/room&board/meal plan/fees...presumably, may be restrictions on what that scholarship money is allowed to cover, not sure if athletes have to pay the $90.55 fee or not?) The college catalog could then provide a brief description of each of the fees so parents and students can understand how that money is allocated and what it is used for...this could easily be added to the website as well. The University of Virginia’s College at Wise department of finance and administration's budget office director Martha Necessary told me the following through email correspondence on Nov, 03 2011 at 19:14 (7:14pm) “The budget is represented on the site as required”. So the issue of transparency rests in a higher authority in terms of requiring a public college or university to divulge aspects of their operating budget, including the disbursement of student fees; however, William and Mary which was also known at hiding its particular fees that comprise its student fee (including $1,008 per student for an athletic fee) through the encouragement/speaking out of the Student Senate (UVA Wise equivalent of the SGA) and Faculty Assembly (which UVA Wise also has) now lists all of its fees online and itemizes all costs in it's catalog and as well on bills that the college sends out with attached information to tell parents and students where to look for the fee breakdown so they know where, and how much of that fee is going to what. The William and Mary catalog to verify, here is the link: ( https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/bitstream/handle/10288/13461/2010-2011_UG_Catalog.pdf?sequence=1) it is on page 37 of the PDF file. The website does an even better job at showing how the student fee is disbursed, here is the link: (http://www.wm.edu/offices/financialoperations/sa/tuition/index.php) William and Mary is a guide for which UVA Wise can adopt with very little time and or costs...a few extra lines of print in the catalog is not going to hurt the college (considering it has gone digital) or a few extra tables and lines of text added to the tuition and fees page of the website. If our College, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise wishes to claim itself to be “Thomas Jefferson’s Dream...In the Mountains” perhaps it is time we heed his idealism about openness and transparency that “the finances of the Union as clear and intelligible as a merchant's books, so that every member of Congress and every man of any mind in the Union should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and consequently to control them”(Jefferson,1806)
From my experience thus far in the research of this information, the college has done a poor job of living up to such lofty expectations as set by one of the founders of our great nation...and if it wishes to continue to bare his name and claim they are representative of his dreams, then they should heed his words and perhaps take a note out of his Alma Mater William and Mary. For further information about where to find this information and see correspondence between myself and the department of finance and administration's budget office feel free to email me at [email protected]. I'd be glad to forward you any of the links in this articles in addition to the Richmond Times Dispatch article, the USA Today article, and the Terry L. Meyers article. For more information about transparency and openness in Colleges and Universities located in the Commonwealth of Virginia or additional information about student fees at UVA Wise, check out the Facebook open group Transparency now! not Democracy Tomorrow here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TransperancyNow/ (simply type the group name in the search bar and you should see it) End of this piece
Jordan- This is supporting information about the actual changes in rising student fees According to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) 2008-2009 tuition and fees at Virginia's state supported colleges and universities report released July 2008; The University of Virginia's College at Wise charged full-time undergraduate students a mandatory non-educational and general fee of $2,665.99 for 2008, of which $839.31 of that total fee was charged as an athletic fee...the second highest fee charged to students, below the $1,079.65 for the dining hall and student center development fund. The year 2009 saw your student fee increase at a rate of 6.9% overall...the athletic fee for 2009 jumped 6.7% alone to a tune of $895.44...The athletic fee for the year 2009 was still greater than the combination of the other 17 fees charged that year which composed a total of $843.30. The athletic fee you paid for the year 2009 constituted 31.41% of your total student fee charge and 6.7% of your total costs of attending UVA Wise for the year 2009. The current year was no better; for the year 2010-2011 tuition and fees at Virginia's state supported colleges and universities report released July 2011 by the SCHEV shows further increases in both student fees and the athletic fee. 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 saw a cut back in the actual number of different mandatory non-educational general fees from 20 to 5 and yet the student fee and the athletic fee in particular are the highest they have been since the 2008-2009 school year. If you were a full time undergraduate student, you paid $3,174.00 in total student fees...the athletic fee comprised $1,003.67 or 31.62% of the total student fee assessed to students. The fee grew to $1,098.66 for the 2011-2012 year to 32.65% of the total student fee. Academic year 2010-2011 to year 2011-2012 saw an increase in the total student fee charged to students grow 6% and the athletic fee 9.5% in a single academic year...if my parents could get that level of growth on their 401k's in a period of one year they wouldn't have to worry about working till they were 80 years old. The athletic fee for 2011-2012 constituted 6.61% of the total costs you bore as a student to attend one full year of college at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. The Academic year 200-2001 you paid a total student fee of $1,400...and an athletic fee of
$534.66. Academic year 2011-2012 you paid $3,174.00 in student fees and $1,003.67 in athletic fees. Student fees have increased 44.10% in 11 years...Athletic fees have increased 53.27%. Student Student % Change Fee: 00'-01' Fee: 11'-12' $1,400.00 $3,174.00 44.1% Increase $ Change $1,774.00 Increase $ Change $469.01 Increase
Athletic Athletic % Change Fee: 00'-01' Fee: 11'-12' $534.66 $1,003.67 53.27% Increase
Now I want you to compare these figures to the rising costs in tuition you are paying: Tuition Fee: 2002001 $1,930.00 Tuition Fee: % Change 2011-2012 $4,357.00 %44.29 (increase) $ Change
$2,427.00 (increase)
As you can see there is a continuing trend in rising costs of tuition and associated student fees. Tuition alone is not the driving force which is increasing your overall financial commitment to attend college. End of this piece This is additional information which covers more of the costs and changes from the 2011-2012 operating budget at the college A separate piece in of itself THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA’S COLLEGE AT WISE 2011-2012 BUDGET SUMMARY (http://www.wise.virginia.edu/fin_gov/files/fin_gov/UVa-Wise%202011-2012%20Budget %20Summary.pdf) The fees you pay and our shown on your invoice “student bill” are comprised of two different fee structures: 1)Mandatory Educational and General fees: Mandatory student charges used to support instruction and related education activities included in the Education and General (E&G) program. E&G subprograms include instruction, research and public service, academic support, student services, institutional support, and the operation and maintenance of physical plants.
2)Mandatory non-educational General fees Mandatory student charges used to support non-instructional activities, such as student health services, athletics, recreational activities, campus transportation, and capital debt service. Operating Budget by Activity The operating financial plan on page 41 summarizes total expenditures by program: direct instruction, research, public service, academic support, student services, general administration, O&M of physical plant, scholarships and fellowships, and auxiliary/self supporting. (Editor Notes: symbols + mean increase – means decrease) (Budgets that see an annual increase) Academic Support: 4.1%+ Student Services: 1.4%+ General Administration: 8.2%+ Student Fees: 6.0%+ Dining Services: 3.5%+ on campus 3.2%+ commuters Financial Aid: 8.1%+ (General fund, money from the state funds this) Now look at the budgets that see decreases Direct Instruction: 11.5%Research and public service: 22.6%- (budget compiled strictly from state and federal grants) O&M Plant: 5.8%Bookstore: only states a modest decrease no % given Remember those two types of fees from earlier...here is how they relate after what I just showed you. 1)Mandatory Educational and General fees: Academic Support: 4.1%+ Student Services: 1.4%+ General Administration: 8.2%+ Direct Instruction: 11.5%Research and public service: 22.6%- (budget compiled strictly from state and federal grants) O&M Plant: 5.8%2)Mandatory non-educational General fees Student Fees: 6.0%+ Dining Services: 3.5%+ on campus 3.2%+ commuters Bookstore: only states a modest decrease no % given The Wise budget lists a program called:
"Auxiliary Enterprises" The 2011-2012 auxiliary enterprises operating budget will total $9.7 million. Self supporting activities include student housing operations, conference events, bookstore, dining services, fleet vehicle management, parking and transportation, student health services, student union operations, athletics, and debt service for residence halls, dining hall, football stadium, and student union buildings. Funded solely by revenue collected for services provided to students, faculty, staff and the general public, the auxiliary enterprise operating budget comprises 28.2 percent of Wise’s total operating budget. I want you to remember the term "self supporting" from the definition of auxiliary enterprises. So here are the departments and their budget relating to the auxiliary enterprise. Student fees: $3,364 per full time student (times that by how many full time students there are) Student housing: $2.5 million Conference events: $166,000 Parking and Transportation: $140,000 Dining Services: $1.6 million Bookstore: $1.1 million Athletics: $2.4 million How departmental budgets are funded: Student housing: Budget is derived from room charges Conference events: not clearly stated where the funding is from, but we will assume it comes from housing Parking and Transportation: Tickets, vehicle registration fees Dining Services: The price you pay for your meal plan Bookstore: revenue through sales Athletics: ticket sales, donations Now, Athletics is stated that it self supports itself through ticket sales and donations....Yet, the budget states that Private gifts, including $177,100 of athletic auxiliary revenue, are projected to total $523,000 for 2011-12....that's a bit off the mark for a proposed budget of $2.4million???????? $177,100 in revenue (ticket sales) + Private donations to athletics $345,900 = $523,000 - (2.4million) = $1,877,000(-) Now...I'm no math whiz, but quantity A does not equal proposed quantity B here. Athletics The projected 2011-2012 operating budget for intercollegiate athletic programs will total $2.4 million, an increase of 43 percent as compared to 2010-2011. This is the highest increase in the entire budget among all of the departmental listings made within the budget...nothing comes close or near a 43% increase...The average increase (the 7 out of 12 programs had increases in their budget) of the departments that were listed as having an increase for the year is 4.9%...43-4.9=38.1% difference. So what exactly do we get with $2.4 million anyway?
1)Division I competition for men’s and women’s basketball necessitated an increase in scholarship award offerings for students participating in each of these programs. 2)A decrease in annual giving to athletics will require the awards to be supplemented from other athletic revenues. 3)Athletics expenditures include all teams travel and meals, wages for part-time coaching personnel, and recruitment. 4)Funding also has been allocated for costs associated with the changing of Wise’s logo for uniforms, equipment, and field sign maintenance. 5)Part-time coaching staff positions in women’s basketball, sports information, and strength and conditioning will be funded as full-time positions in 2011-2012. 6)Anticipated vacant full-time positions in women’s softball and football will be fully funded from auxiliary fees. So where does that missing $1,877,000 come from? Remember those fees I continually keep referencing...yep, those fees! Well this is where that missing money comes from (allegedly given the limited scope of available information I am working with) *Full-Time Undergraduate Mandatory Non-Educational and General Fees* Which fall under our program "Auxiliary Enterprises" according to the state report on colleges/universities budgets...UVA-Wise has 5 classified as said fees: Title Amount per student %change from last year 1)Athletic $1,098.66 9.5% 2)Debt service $1,231.79 -9.0% 3)Operation and maintenance $743.00 18.9% 4)Scholarship $90.55 (did not exist last year) 5)Student organizations $200.00 10.2% ____________________________________________________________________ Total (Student Fee) $3,384.00 8.0% So you know what you are paying for in terms of athletics...what do you get with these other fees? Debt Service Debt service payments for the Slemp Student Center, Smith Dining Commons, and the football stadium (loan payments for the buildings) Operation and maintenance The daily operational costs, maintenance, and housekeeping personnel assigned to Cantrell Hall and the Slemp Student Center,Health and Career services. Scholarships Unable to locate in the Wise budget...so no idea what this fee is for (requires clarification)
Student organizations student government association; student publications; intramural and outdoor recreation activities; Student Activities Board SAB, student life programs, student health services. I would love to tell you exactly where every dollar of you student fee goes (which department, whose salary, how much etc...) unfortunately the budget provided off the uva-wise website does not give me that much detail and the Commonwealth State agency Department of Planning and Budget has the expenditure reports (documentation of how money is spent, for what and how much but the detail as to the “who” is not comprehended from the wording or literature the document uses to name the source of the expenditure). This leads me making a lot of inferences only with what I have to go on. So further research' analysis will need to take place to verify my statements or inferences made in this writing. Many students are having to bare the costs of having athletic programs while state funding retracts leading to higher tuition increases...in addition (as we can see here) in higher student fees coupled together leading itself to an education that may in time become too costly to attain. looking back at the table comparing those fees which culminate to your total student fee... 32% of your student fee is comprised of an athletic fee...that's 16% of your total tuition costs...that's almost half of a full years tuition at a VA community college...If you don't think that is absurd, tell that to a student, or a person looking to go to college just so they can get an education... Just imagine what those dollars could mean if they were transferred back into the academic component of the college...would you see your tuition increase another 8.5%...maybe get a better network for the campus...maybe allow for more research opportunities for students...better equipment in classrooms...access to more academic sources through databases and collections. Maybe instead of cutting direct instruction by 11.5% and increasing the athletic budget by 43%...how about we flip those numbers...Cut athletics by 11.5% and increase direct instruction by 43%. Perhaps it's time we re-valuate the purpose of college...why we go...why we are there...what are we doing there...College is to educate, to develop, to prepare, to broaden, to challenge, to define. What are we doing when we are fundamentally scaling back the departments which by their very nature are the core of why college even exist. What message are we sending...what future are we creating. That is the question I pose to you. Editors Note :I understand that many students are able to get an education because of athletic scholarships and opportunities...I’m not arguing that athletics should be done away with...I believe they serve an essential role in the development, and retention, and immersion of students/local community/nation in it's own way. I simply state that perhaps we are losing sight of what our priorities are and the intentions of what our institution was founded on.
those in academe of Public Universities and College's in the Commonwealth/Nation have a dark little corner that receives relatively warranted attention. That tuition is not the sole culprit responsible for your rising costs of attendance it is also fees...more particular mandatory non-educational and general fees and that they stay out of mentioning from the furor of politicians and families ire is because they are so often hidden. Professor Meyers notes that one fee in particular seems not to get much attention; that fee being the money that students pay for intercollegiate sports i.e. football and basketball being the main recipients of those funds. Large schools such as UVA, and Virginia Tech which have television income and large benefactors help offset the costs that students have to pay to subsidize these athletic programs...but smaller schools, those in particular that do not have the benefit of television income or rich benefactors aren't able to offset the costs of operating that athletic program, and as such the burden is placed on the backs of students through fees which are quite high to help offset those operational costs. These fees are high in part because they are carefully tucked away and secretly grow (rise in costs) with no one paying attention except for those that have an interests in keeping them out of sight. “There is no transparency and hence no constituency to act as a brake” as Professor Meyers states. Fees can be abused either through silence or by institutional deceitfulness that borders on untruthful. Even if the information is made available it is likely to be found in places that many families and students wouldn't know where to look. This information is not made available either through the main UVA Wise website, its official college catalog, or in any of the accessible files through the office of finance and administration's budget office...that information simply is not available to you, your parents, or even the citizens of the Commonwealth. When I tried asking for the information directly from the office of finance and administration’s budget office I was repeatedly referred to a single piece of documentation that I had already located prior to my request of the information and it did not contain the information I was looking for (email me and I will send you all the correspondence I had through email between myself and the office about locating this information). It was not until I had contacted the state agency Department of Planning and Budget where I was able to find a contact at the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia that I was able to find access to this information in determining where exactly $3,174.00 in student fees comes from. This time consuming and diligent searching constituted hours of time in addition to bouncing between multiple state agencies in the commonwealth to find the information I had simply asked to see from the college. In the College's defense I will say they said I was more than welcome to travel down and have a sit in with their office to address any questions I had as email was simply not working in being able to facilitate my request. However, the information I sought is and will forever be constituted as public record (unless state law changes that)...that means myself, you, that guy in Henson hall room 211, and the lady at the register at B line has access to see this documentation upon request. However, how many students, you, yourselves would take the time to hunt down, email, and spend hours in collecting or finding this information? How about your parents? If you are not paying for school I am sure your parents are...should they not have the ease of accessibility to this information? Should you have a right to know what you are spending your money on? Should you know as a student who may be borrowing thousands and thousands of dollars to go to college know exactly how your money is being spent? Of course you do! You should be able to go into your student catalog or get on the UVA Wise web site and see exactly what your money is being used for...not just “student fee: $3,174.00” but instead you should see (for academic year 2011-2012)
Title Athletic Debt service Operation/maintenance Scholarship* Student organizations TOTAL
Amount Per Student $1,098.66 $1,231.79 $743.00 $90.55 $200.00 $3,384.00
% Change from last year 9.5% Increase -9.0% Decrease 18.9% Increase (New for 2011-2012) 10.2% Increase 8.0% Increase
(Author's Note: The scholarship fee was a newly implemented fee for the 2011-2012 Academic year. All full time undergraduate students are required to pay a $90 annual fee to fund athletic scholarships for student athletes. That means in addition to the $1,098.66 in athletic fees students (non athletes) pay an additional $90.55 fee to fund athletes scholarships to pay for their tuition/room&board/meal plan/fees...presumably, may be restrictions on what that scholarship money is allowed to cover, not sure if athletes have to pay the $90.55 fee or not?) The college catalog could then provide a brief description of each of the fees so parents and students can understand how that money is allocated and what it is used for...this could easily be added to the website as well. The University of Virginia’s College at Wise department of finance and administration's budget office director Martha Necessary told me the following through email correspondence on Nov, 03 2011 at 19:14 (7:14pm) “The budget is represented on the site as required”. So the issue of transparency rests in a higher authority in terms of requiring a public college or university to divulge aspects of their operating budget, including the disbursement of student fees; however, William and Mary which was also known at hiding its particular fees that comprise its student fee (including $1,008 per student for an athletic fee) through the encouragement/speaking out of the Student Senate (UVA Wise equivalent of the SGA) and Faculty Assembly (which UVA Wise also has) now lists all of its fees online and itemizes all costs in it's catalog and as well on bills that the college sends out with attached information to tell parents and students where to look for the fee breakdown so they know where, and how much of that fee is going to what. The William and Mary catalog to verify, here is the link: ( https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/bitstream/handle/10288/13461/2010-2011_UG_Catalog.pdf?sequence=1) it is on page 37 of the PDF file. The website does an even better job at showing how the student fee is disbursed, here is the link: (http://www.wm.edu/offices/financialoperations/sa/tuition/index.php) William and Mary is a guide for which UVA Wise can adopt with very little time and or costs...a few extra lines of print in the catalog is not going to hurt the college (considering it has gone digital) or a few extra tables and lines of text added to the tuition and fees page of the website. If our College, The University of Virginia’s College at Wise wishes to claim itself to be “Thomas Jefferson’s Dream...In the Mountains” perhaps it is time we heed his idealism about openness and transparency that “the finances of the Union as clear and intelligible as a merchant's books, so that every member of Congress and every man of any mind in the Union should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and consequently to control them”(Jefferson,1806)
From my experience thus far in the research of this information, the college has done a poor job of living up to such lofty expectations as set by one of the founders of our great nation...and if it wishes to continue to bare his name and claim they are representative of his dreams, then they should heed his words and perhaps take a note out of his Alma Mater William and Mary. For further information about where to find this information and see correspondence between myself and the department of finance and administration's budget office feel free to email me at [email protected]. I'd be glad to forward you any of the links in this articles in addition to the Richmond Times Dispatch article, the USA Today article, and the Terry L. Meyers article. For more information about transparency and openness in Colleges and Universities located in the Commonwealth of Virginia or additional information about student fees at UVA Wise, check out the Facebook open group Transparency now! not Democracy Tomorrow here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TransperancyNow/ (simply type the group name in the search bar and you should see it) End of this piece
Jordan- This is supporting information about the actual changes in rising student fees According to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) 2008-2009 tuition and fees at Virginia's state supported colleges and universities report released July 2008; The University of Virginia's College at Wise charged full-time undergraduate students a mandatory non-educational and general fee of $2,665.99 for 2008, of which $839.31 of that total fee was charged as an athletic fee...the second highest fee charged to students, below the $1,079.65 for the dining hall and student center development fund. The year 2009 saw your student fee increase at a rate of 6.9% overall...the athletic fee for 2009 jumped 6.7% alone to a tune of $895.44...The athletic fee for the year 2009 was still greater than the combination of the other 17 fees charged that year which composed a total of $843.30. The athletic fee you paid for the year 2009 constituted 31.41% of your total student fee charge and 6.7% of your total costs of attending UVA Wise for the year 2009. The current year was no better; for the year 2010-2011 tuition and fees at Virginia's state supported colleges and universities report released July 2011 by the SCHEV shows further increases in both student fees and the athletic fee. 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 saw a cut back in the actual number of different mandatory non-educational general fees from 20 to 5 and yet the student fee and the athletic fee in particular are the highest they have been since the 2008-2009 school year. If you were a full time undergraduate student, you paid $3,174.00 in total student fees...the athletic fee comprised $1,003.67 or 31.62% of the total student fee assessed to students. The fee grew to $1,098.66 for the 2011-2012 year to 32.65% of the total student fee. Academic year 2010-2011 to year 2011-2012 saw an increase in the total student fee charged to students grow 6% and the athletic fee 9.5% in a single academic year...if my parents could get that level of growth on their 401k's in a period of one year they wouldn't have to worry about working till they were 80 years old. The athletic fee for 2011-2012 constituted 6.61% of the total costs you bore as a student to attend one full year of college at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. The Academic year 200-2001 you paid a total student fee of $1,400...and an athletic fee of
$534.66. Academic year 2011-2012 you paid $3,174.00 in student fees and $1,003.67 in athletic fees. Student fees have increased 44.10% in 11 years...Athletic fees have increased 53.27%. Student Student % Change Fee: 00'-01' Fee: 11'-12' $1,400.00 $3,174.00 44.1% Increase $ Change $1,774.00 Increase $ Change $469.01 Increase
Athletic Athletic % Change Fee: 00'-01' Fee: 11'-12' $534.66 $1,003.67 53.27% Increase
Now I want you to compare these figures to the rising costs in tuition you are paying: Tuition Fee: 2002001 $1,930.00 Tuition Fee: % Change 2011-2012 $4,357.00 %44.29 (increase) $ Change
$2,427.00 (increase)
As you can see there is a continuing trend in rising costs of tuition and associated student fees. Tuition alone is not the driving force which is increasing your overall financial commitment to attend college. End of this piece This is additional information which covers more of the costs and changes from the 2011-2012 operating budget at the college A separate piece in of itself THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA’S COLLEGE AT WISE 2011-2012 BUDGET SUMMARY (http://www.wise.virginia.edu/fin_gov/files/fin_gov/UVa-Wise%202011-2012%20Budget %20Summary.pdf) The fees you pay and our shown on your invoice “student bill” are comprised of two different fee structures: 1)Mandatory Educational and General fees: Mandatory student charges used to support instruction and related education activities included in the Education and General (E&G) program. E&G subprograms include instruction, research and public service, academic support, student services, institutional support, and the operation and maintenance of physical plants.
2)Mandatory non-educational General fees Mandatory student charges used to support non-instructional activities, such as student health services, athletics, recreational activities, campus transportation, and capital debt service. Operating Budget by Activity The operating financial plan on page 41 summarizes total expenditures by program: direct instruction, research, public service, academic support, student services, general administration, O&M of physical plant, scholarships and fellowships, and auxiliary/self supporting. (Editor Notes: symbols + mean increase – means decrease) (Budgets that see an annual increase) Academic Support: 4.1%+ Student Services: 1.4%+ General Administration: 8.2%+ Student Fees: 6.0%+ Dining Services: 3.5%+ on campus 3.2%+ commuters Financial Aid: 8.1%+ (General fund, money from the state funds this) Now look at the budgets that see decreases Direct Instruction: 11.5%Research and public service: 22.6%- (budget compiled strictly from state and federal grants) O&M Plant: 5.8%Bookstore: only states a modest decrease no % given Remember those two types of fees from earlier...here is how they relate after what I just showed you. 1)Mandatory Educational and General fees: Academic Support: 4.1%+ Student Services: 1.4%+ General Administration: 8.2%+ Direct Instruction: 11.5%Research and public service: 22.6%- (budget compiled strictly from state and federal grants) O&M Plant: 5.8%2)Mandatory non-educational General fees Student Fees: 6.0%+ Dining Services: 3.5%+ on campus 3.2%+ commuters Bookstore: only states a modest decrease no % given The Wise budget lists a program called:
"Auxiliary Enterprises" The 2011-2012 auxiliary enterprises operating budget will total $9.7 million. Self supporting activities include student housing operations, conference events, bookstore, dining services, fleet vehicle management, parking and transportation, student health services, student union operations, athletics, and debt service for residence halls, dining hall, football stadium, and student union buildings. Funded solely by revenue collected for services provided to students, faculty, staff and the general public, the auxiliary enterprise operating budget comprises 28.2 percent of Wise’s total operating budget. I want you to remember the term "self supporting" from the definition of auxiliary enterprises. So here are the departments and their budget relating to the auxiliary enterprise. Student fees: $3,364 per full time student (times that by how many full time students there are) Student housing: $2.5 million Conference events: $166,000 Parking and Transportation: $140,000 Dining Services: $1.6 million Bookstore: $1.1 million Athletics: $2.4 million How departmental budgets are funded: Student housing: Budget is derived from room charges Conference events: not clearly stated where the funding is from, but we will assume it comes from housing Parking and Transportation: Tickets, vehicle registration fees Dining Services: The price you pay for your meal plan Bookstore: revenue through sales Athletics: ticket sales, donations Now, Athletics is stated that it self supports itself through ticket sales and donations....Yet, the budget states that Private gifts, including $177,100 of athletic auxiliary revenue, are projected to total $523,000 for 2011-12....that's a bit off the mark for a proposed budget of $2.4million???????? $177,100 in revenue (ticket sales) + Private donations to athletics $345,900 = $523,000 - (2.4million) = $1,877,000(-) Now...I'm no math whiz, but quantity A does not equal proposed quantity B here. Athletics The projected 2011-2012 operating budget for intercollegiate athletic programs will total $2.4 million, an increase of 43 percent as compared to 2010-2011. This is the highest increase in the entire budget among all of the departmental listings made within the budget...nothing comes close or near a 43% increase...The average increase (the 7 out of 12 programs had increases in their budget) of the departments that were listed as having an increase for the year is 4.9%...43-4.9=38.1% difference. So what exactly do we get with $2.4 million anyway?
1)Division I competition for men’s and women’s basketball necessitated an increase in scholarship award offerings for students participating in each of these programs. 2)A decrease in annual giving to athletics will require the awards to be supplemented from other athletic revenues. 3)Athletics expenditures include all teams travel and meals, wages for part-time coaching personnel, and recruitment. 4)Funding also has been allocated for costs associated with the changing of Wise’s logo for uniforms, equipment, and field sign maintenance. 5)Part-time coaching staff positions in women’s basketball, sports information, and strength and conditioning will be funded as full-time positions in 2011-2012. 6)Anticipated vacant full-time positions in women’s softball and football will be fully funded from auxiliary fees. So where does that missing $1,877,000 come from? Remember those fees I continually keep referencing...yep, those fees! Well this is where that missing money comes from (allegedly given the limited scope of available information I am working with) *Full-Time Undergraduate Mandatory Non-Educational and General Fees* Which fall under our program "Auxiliary Enterprises" according to the state report on colleges/universities budgets...UVA-Wise has 5 classified as said fees: Title Amount per student %change from last year 1)Athletic $1,098.66 9.5% 2)Debt service $1,231.79 -9.0% 3)Operation and maintenance $743.00 18.9% 4)Scholarship $90.55 (did not exist last year) 5)Student organizations $200.00 10.2% ____________________________________________________________________ Total (Student Fee) $3,384.00 8.0% So you know what you are paying for in terms of athletics...what do you get with these other fees? Debt Service Debt service payments for the Slemp Student Center, Smith Dining Commons, and the football stadium (loan payments for the buildings) Operation and maintenance The daily operational costs, maintenance, and housekeeping personnel assigned to Cantrell Hall and the Slemp Student Center,Health and Career services. Scholarships Unable to locate in the Wise budget...so no idea what this fee is for (requires clarification)
Student organizations student government association; student publications; intramural and outdoor recreation activities; Student Activities Board SAB, student life programs, student health services. I would love to tell you exactly where every dollar of you student fee goes (which department, whose salary, how much etc...) unfortunately the budget provided off the uva-wise website does not give me that much detail and the Commonwealth State agency Department of Planning and Budget has the expenditure reports (documentation of how money is spent, for what and how much but the detail as to the “who” is not comprehended from the wording or literature the document uses to name the source of the expenditure). This leads me making a lot of inferences only with what I have to go on. So further research' analysis will need to take place to verify my statements or inferences made in this writing. Many students are having to bare the costs of having athletic programs while state funding retracts leading to higher tuition increases...in addition (as we can see here) in higher student fees coupled together leading itself to an education that may in time become too costly to attain. looking back at the table comparing those fees which culminate to your total student fee... 32% of your student fee is comprised of an athletic fee...that's 16% of your total tuition costs...that's almost half of a full years tuition at a VA community college...If you don't think that is absurd, tell that to a student, or a person looking to go to college just so they can get an education... Just imagine what those dollars could mean if they were transferred back into the academic component of the college...would you see your tuition increase another 8.5%...maybe get a better network for the campus...maybe allow for more research opportunities for students...better equipment in classrooms...access to more academic sources through databases and collections. Maybe instead of cutting direct instruction by 11.5% and increasing the athletic budget by 43%...how about we flip those numbers...Cut athletics by 11.5% and increase direct instruction by 43%. Perhaps it's time we re-valuate the purpose of college...why we go...why we are there...what are we doing there...College is to educate, to develop, to prepare, to broaden, to challenge, to define. What are we doing when we are fundamentally scaling back the departments which by their very nature are the core of why college even exist. What message are we sending...what future are we creating. That is the question I pose to you. Editors Note :I understand that many students are able to get an education because of athletic scholarships and opportunities...I’m not arguing that athletics should be done away with...I believe they serve an essential role in the development, and retention, and immersion of students/local community/nation in it's own way. I simply state that perhaps we are losing sight of what our priorities are and the intentions of what our institution was founded on.
