The UNF Athletics Department made the largest fee increase request for the second year in a row. Of the six organizations that presented to the Student Fee Assessment Committee, only three requested increases.

SFAC recommends fee increases and decreases to the university president, John Delaney, who then recommends student fee changes to the Board of Trustees.

Doreen Perez, director of Student Health Services for SHS, said there will be no request to raise the Student Health fee.

Perez said the organization desperately needs a third-party billing service. Instead of charging students out-of-pocket, their insurance companies will be charged directly.

Perez said SHS will keep the nurse practitioner position open to fund health services. SHS will use the available funds to pay OPS nurse practitioners.

The DRC did not request a budget increase and will remain at 40 cents per credit hour since last fiscal year.

The money generated from this fee totals $150,000. The DCR uses this money to provide accommodations like sign language interpreters, note takers and scribes.

Health Promotions requested an increase of 5 cents per credit hour.

The increase and current OPS funding will cover the salary of a new position, the Health Promotions coordinator. The position will facilitate long term goals like the Healthy Osprey Campaign, a university community that works to promote healthy lifestyles.

The Counseling Center requested a fee increase of 31 cents per credit hour.

This will fund several initiatives like an OPS psychiatric nurse, After Hours Crisis Hotline and professional development for area coordinators.

Michael McGuire, Student Government staff advisor, said SG will not be requesting a fee increase for the second year in a row.

According to their proposal, SG is prepared to present a balanced budget through the normal legislative process, despite an expected decrease in enrollment that could reduce the budget by $30,690.

SG’s budget is derived from the Activity and Service fee, the second highest UNF fee at $14.47.

The A&S fee is used for two things. Currently $4.24 is for the bond on the SU building, and $10.23 is for SG’s three branches — its executive agencies, Osprey Productions and Club Alliance.

Lee Moon, Director of Athletics, requested an increase of $1.56 to the Athletic fee, the highest student fee.

The additional requested funding would bring the total Athletic fee to $19.39.

The fee revenue would fund post-season expenses and provide additional staffing for different teams, nine positions in total. It would also fund scholarships and provide for overhead.

Currently the volleyball and baseball teams have the only complete, full-time funded staff for athletics. The goal is to equitably reach a fully funded athletics program.

UNF is 10 coaches short of a full staff, not including the numerous coaches needed for the track program.

Moon said, “Our purpose is to build a solid Division 1 athletic program that is something everybody can be proud of.”

The last organization to present their budget to SFAC will be Parking and Transportation Services on Feb. 4.

Email Danae Leake at reporter29@unfspinnaker.com
Email Jason Howard at reporter3@unfspinnaker.com