Graduate students voted to keep their activity fee mandatory and increase it by $9 before Thanksgiving break, allowing the GSA more breathing room in their budget to provide services and improve existing programs.
The referendum, which comes up for a vote every four years, consisted of two questions. Students voted to keep the fee mandatory and to raise the fee to $48 a semester.
"The increase was long overdue. Considering all the programs we provide for graduate students, $9 is a small price to pay," said Xun Liu, president of the Graduate Student Association who studies political science.
Some students said the fact that the increase was so low was a selling point for them.
"Compared to the medical and dental schools on campus, our mandatory activity fee is the lowest," said Darren O'Hern, who studies educational leadership and policy.
Of the more than 6,500 full-time and part-time graduate students at UB, 363 voted in the referendum. Four years ago, only 285 students voted to keep the fee mandatory.
Liu said he understood the reasons behind the paltry turnout figures.
"Half the graduate students here are part-time and are only on campus a few hours a week, so it does not surprise me that there was a low turnout," Liu said.
The vote passed with 263 students supporting the increase and 316 agreeing it should stay mandatory.
According to Liu, the activity fee is divided up into various services and programs provided by the GSA.
"For example, conference attendance is an essential part of the graduate student experience, and funding from the activity fee goes towards this," he said.
Masters students can apply to attend a conference and receive up to $250 from the GSA to cover the various expenses that they might incur. Ph.D. students can apply to receive up to $400. Most graduate students go to conferences at least once or twice in their academic careers.
Liu said the increase would also be spent on improving the editorial assistance program. The GSA hires editors from the English department to help graduate students edit papers and dissertations for errors in grammar and sentence structure.
"Over 400 students use the service, and it's a nice way to show students grammatical guidance," Liu said.
To promote and gather support for the fee increase the GSA campaigned leading up to the vote about the positive effects it would provide. Word of mouth also played a big role, as well as flyers and informational pamphlets.
"The GSA laid it out really well and based on the information they gave us a $9 increase is completely justifiable," O'Hern said.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
