On Monday, April 3, Covenant’s Student Senate led campus in a successful vote to increase the Student Association (SACC) Fee by $50 for the year. This means that beginning in the 2023-24 academic school year, each student will be paying an additional $25 per semester to go towards the Student Association budget.
Per the Senate’s bylaws, they are required to receive a majority vote of the student body to increase this fee. According to Student Body Vice President Lucy Sicks, a majority vote is determined by putting a vote out to the entire campus. “Whatever quantity of votes we receive, we have to receive a majority of that,” Sicks said.
The Senate's goal was to advertise this vote to as many students as possible and inform students about the effects an increase in the SACC fee would have for campus. They emailed students about the upcoming vote, as well as attaching a letter explaining the reasons behind the proposed fee increase. On April 3, Student Body President Jon Schimpf spoke before chapel to tell students voting had opened. That same day, the Senate also hosted a table in Carter lobby to answer students’ questions.
When voting closed the evening of the third, the Senate released the results via email to students. The proposal to increase the fee passed by the required majority vote. There were 302 total responses, with 188 votes for “yes” (62.3%) and 114 votes for “no” (37.7%).
The main concern raised by students was why it was necessary for them to spend more money. Sicks said that people “had various questions like, ‘what is this?’ and ‘why are you doing this?’” However, once Sicks and her fellow senators explained the reasons for the increase, most students were on board.
The SACC fee has not been raised in over ten years. But in an economy facing rising inflation and higher cost of living, the Senate needs increased funds to help support various areas across campus. The SACC budget is used for campus-wide events (Homecoming, Kilter, Formal, etc.), all the various clubs, student publications (The Tartan, The Bagpipe, and The Thorn), residence hall events, class events and stipends to pay students who work on these projects.
With the Senate facing a shortage of funds, the proposal to increase the SACC fee came about in late February, and the Senate’s executive committee (composed of Student Body President Jon Schimpf, Student Body Vice President Lucy Sicks, Student Body Treasurer Blair Neal, and Communications Director Grace Elder) proposed the idea to the rest of Senate in early March.
From there, senators met with Covenant’s Dean of Students, Dr. Brad Voyles and Covenant’s Chief Financial Officer, Fred Verwoerd. Per their bylaws, the Senate needed the approval of Voyles and Verwoerd to increase the SAAC fee. Sicks says that “both were in strong, strong approval and felt it was really necessary.”
Sicks says that the Senate’s goal is to provide higher quality, not more, campus events. One of the things she told students about the fee increase was that it would allow Campus Activities Board more funds to improve an event like Spring Formal. A lack of budget was why there was no food served at Formal, as well as why the jazz band had to leave earlier than previous years.
The Senate also wants to support Covenant’s many different clubs, six of which are new this academic year. “We want to help equip clubs to do more of the things they want to do. A lot of times we are receiving these requests from clubs, but we just don’t have the capacity to support them. So, we want to help spur clubs on to doing their really cool visions,” Sicks said.
Now that the SACC Fee has been increased, the Senate is hopeful that the student body can look forward to improved events, more funds for residence life, and support for old and new clubs.