Fee Transparency Project

Zoom: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/98559266028?pwd=XOXI1eAbHbfVmdgNNgEAcBZ9mM86JT.1

Attendees: Marshall, Mel, Trey, Manel, Fernanda, Tanisha, Lauren, Lucy, Aiden, Shirley, Katie

Welcome and Introductions
1. Members introductions: Name, Pronouns, Year, Major, and Space.
  1. The group introduces themselves to one another.
2. Order: Cowell, Stevenson, Crown, Merrill, Kresge, Porter, Oakes, RCC, C9, JRL, GSA, GSC, SAB, Provost, SUA, Lisa, Lucy
Approval of Agenda & 11/25/24 Minutes
1. Mel makes a motion to approve the agenda and the minutes. Trey seconds the motion. No objections. Motion carries.
Announcements & Updates
1. Member updates
  1. Shirley shares that she has class at 2:00 pm on Tuesdays and will be able to attend the first 30 minutes of the meeting each week.
  2. Mel mentions that she is aware of a Cowell student who has applied for the position. Lucy will check the Handshake system to see if the application is there, and if there are any others.
2. Sometime this quarter TAPS
  1. Marshall explains that each winter quarter, we meet with TAPS regarding their fee, service levels, etc. This quarter, we will meet with Dan Henderson with TAPS. Lucy will send an outreach to Dan.
3. MCFAC Members
  1. Anyone interested? The Miscellaneous and Course Fee Committee is looking for members of SFAC to join the committee this year.
  2. Lisa explains that the committee will meet once in April and again in May.
  3. Course fees are critical this year as there will be several new requests now that the campus central program supporting course fees is ending.
4. Group photo
  1. Marshall suggests that we take a new photo this quarter. Mel will create a When to Meet to collect times for meeting to collect a new photo of the group. We need an SFAC Media Day!
  2. Here is the When to Meet survey: https://www.when2meet.com/?28391740-81oLJ
5. CSF Winter 25 at UC Merced
  1. Marshall explains that this quarter the CSF meeting will be at UC Merced. As soon as the meeting date is set, Marshall will share that information and we should be able to make
New Business
1. Public Comment Period during meetings
  1. Marshall explains that we will be advertising our meetings and the opportunity for public comment during meetings. We will advertise the Zoom link on our website and also share via social media. This would be a great opportunity for SFAC to collect feedback and questions from students.
2. Mixer with College Governments SUGB, GSA, etc.
  1. Marshall explains that he, Mel, and Lucy have received several messages about how colleges appoint or recommend appointments for SFAC, engage with SFAC, etc. We would like to plan a mixer so we can get to know each other and also explain our processes.
3. Merch/Spirit Wear
  1. Grad stoles? Can we have swag for committee members? We are a governing space, can we have our own swag? Lauren says she can get the costs from 4Imprint; Shirley offers to do a design.
  2. Graduation Stole…Fernanda, Katie are graduating this year. I can research that….Lucy can do some research. Lucy will do some research and come back to the group.
2024-2025 Funding Call
1. Overview of Proposals (Lucy)
  1. Lucy goes through the overview slide deck which summarizes the number of proposals received, the total amount requested (by fund source), and some of the areas that require decision points (see next section).
2. Decision Points
  1. How to address proposals from groups who did not attend a workshop/consultation
    1. Please update the tracker if you conducted a consultation and it’s not already listed here.
    2. Marshall says that there are some requests that did not attend a workshop (Arts, Quarry, VSA, Star Chrome) - we should discuss some options for how to address these. Lucy clarifies that Arts and Quarry did reach out to us but it was after December 6th.
    3. Trey expresses that he is leaning toward not funding these proposals.
    4. Mel says that we don’t have enough funds to allocate, unfortunately, so she is leaning toward not accepting the application. Both Arts and Quarry have requested from SFAC in the past and we have articulated a value around not funding groups for multiple years.
    5. Fernanda is supportive of rejecting these proposals, but would like us to check with VSA. Lauren is less inclined to say no to VSA.
    6. Marshall suggests that if we keep them, the proposal could be last on the list. Marshall suggests that we table this discussion for VSA.
    7. There is consensus to reject Arts Division, Quarry Amphitheater, and Star Chrome as they did not attend a proposal consultation meeting.
  2. Proposals that requested more than $75,000
    1. Marshall suggests capping the proposal at $75,000 and keeping the proposal in for consideration. Lauren mentions that capping at $75,000 may impact the budgets. Lucy suggests that we can ask the groups to submit a new budget proposal reflecting a budget maximum ask of $75,000.
    2. Katie asks whether we should have harsher repercussions if a group doesn’t honor the maximum amount. Mel suggests that next year, we be more stringent about this.
  3. Rocket Team - request to accept proposal submitted two hours after deadline.
    1. The group discusses the request. Katie asks if there is any evidence provided that supports the request? The group reviews the tracker again to see if the Rocket Team attended a workshop. It does not appear that they did.
    2. Mel suggests that SFAC not accept the proposal and that we encourage the group to go to College Governments. Lucy can refer them to the VCSAS funding process as well.
    3. We do not have a quorum so the motion and voting is tabled to the next meeting.
  4. Requiring that at least one author/colaborator will be continuing next academic year - this discussion is tabled to next meeting.
    1. Some requests only have authors who will not be continuing next year
    2. Ensures the next group know they have a funding award
3. Next Steps
  1. Process for reviewing and evaluating proposals
  2. Rating Worksheet (see Marshall’s tab for the example)
  3. Deliberation
  4. Overview Sheet
Summer 2025 Campus Based Fees - Lisa
1. Lisa explains that a few years ago SFAC did a deep dive into summer fees and determined the level at which summer fees are charged. The current total is $341.90 for two or more units (new students enrolled in the 1-unit summer orientation course are not charged campus based fees) for undergraduates.
2. SFAC reviews these fees every two years. This year is not a review year in which changes are made; Lisa’s updates are FYI
3. This summer, the fees will go up by $3.00 to reflect an approved annual fee to the TAPS fee.
4. Mel asks what happens with the TAPS fee in 10 years when the increases stop. Lisa responds that we go back to the original fee level.
Student Fee Summit - table to next meeting
1. Google Doc
Sub-Committee Work - table to next meeting
1. Outreach : When2Meet
  1. Helping Mel with Social Media
  2. Tabling
  3. Info events
  4. Others?
2. Auditing : When2Meet
  1. Looking at fees
  2. Meeting with responsible parties
  3. Others?
3. Other Subcommittees?
Adjournment
1. For next week, please read and evaluate the first 10 proposals.

Upcoming Guests/Topics:.

Results of 2023-2024 progress reports from awardees
Guests
1. Acting Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Success John Bollard
By-Laws
1. [From 6/6/24 meeting minutes]: Marshall, Mel, and Lucy will draft some language and edits for the bylaws responsive to today’s conversation for review next year early in fall quarter.
Auditing:
1. Student Media Voice Fee
2. Student Life Facilities Fee
January - Summer Fees
February - Mandatory Misc Fees