Fee Transparency Project

Present: Marshall, Vir, Trey, Lucy, Cheryl, Lisa, Lyra, Angelina, Arielle, Sezona, Mel, Nicholas, John

[3:30 - 3:33] Welcome and Introductions
1. Members' introductions: Name, Pronouns, Year, Major, and Space.
2. Order: Cowell, Stevenson, Crown, Merrill, Kresge, Porter, Oakes, RCC, C9, JRL, Graduate Students, SAB, Provost, SUA, Lisa, Sezona, Lucy
[3:33 - 3:35] Approval of the Agenda and Minutes
1. Approval of Agenda
2. Approval of March 9, 2026 Minutes
  1. Mel motions to approve the agenda and minutes. No objections. Motion carries.
[3:35 - 3:40] Public Comment
1. Sezona, Trey, and Marshall, please fill out the when-to-meet for the audit committee.
[3:40 - 3:45] Announcements
1. CSF April 11-12 @ Merrill Cultural Center
2. Absentee comment form
  1. Marshall invites everyone to open and review the document.
  2. We will be using this document for anyone who is not able to attend a meeting (class conflict, meeting, etc.).
  3. You would copy the agenda item into the document and add any comments you have on the topic. You can also make motions and include a vote for an item.
  4. The agenda will be more detailed and include a description of the item, and any item that we anticipate has a vote, etc.
  5. Each week, we will start adding the new meeting date.
SFAC Chair/Vice-Chair Reports
1. Chair
  1. Marshall’s update is reflected in 4.b
2. Vice-Chair
  1. CSF INFO
    1. UCSC is hosting the spring quarter Council on Student Fees.
    2. Saturday, April 11th, 9 am-4:00 pm, come and enjoy the CSF meeting (you can put the total number of hours/2)
      1. So if the meeting is 6 hours, put 3 hours on your time sheet
    3. Everyone is Welcome to Dinner at Woodstock's that Saturday night
    4. Sunday, April 12th, 9 am-3 pm, you’re more than welcome to come at your own interest, but we won't be offering paid time for Sunday
    5. CSF is currently working on the systemwide Student Services Fee policy. There will be workshops for learning about each campus's processes.
  2. Small Group Meetings With SFAC Leadership
    1. Tuesday, April 7th, any time between 9 and 11 am.
    2. Wednesday, April 8th, any time between 12 and 5 pm
      1. These will be 30-minute meetings.
Subcommittee Reports
1. Audit
  1. The first round of Audit reports is almost complete
  2. Implementing a plan this quarter to see if we can complete multiple rounds of audits in the same quarter time-frame
  3. Working on member professional development (training!)\
  4. (Marshall, Trey, Sezona) - fill out the when2meet
2. Outreach
  1. Fill out the When to Meet
    1. Note, I only put Mondays and Fridays because those are the days I have the most time. Let me know if either day doesn't work for you
[3:45 - 4:15] Child Care Services Presentation from Laila and Angelina
1. Folder
2. Angelina presents on the Child Care Fee - audit subcommittee, which completed this review.
3. Audit Subcommittee does compliance work and reviews fees for compliance.
4. Met with Emili, who is the Director of Early Education Services
5. There is a barrier to services for students; there are misconceptions about child care among students, which impacts access. Misconceptions about waitlists, subsidies, etc. The committee asked about how these items are clarified with students. There are not too many plans for outreach.
6. They talked about part-time child care or drop-in care. There is a huge demand for part-time care. There are no plans for part-time care.
7. They do provide resources and referrals.
8. There seems to be inflexibility in enrollment (enrollment happens at the beginning of the year only).
9. Child Care Fee is integrated with the rest of the child care revenue.
10. Students qualify for subsidies.
11. Unclear demand from students. They are opening up more spots for students in the new center, but are uncertain of whether the spots will all be filled.
12. Is demand considered based on full-time need?
13. If income reduces, they would likely reduce the number of student employment positions.
14. Feedback is collected from students who are currently receiving services.
15. Recommendations:
  1. Set up markers for higher enrollment of student children
  2. Efforts for greater flexibility/part-time programs
  3. Priority for employment (student interns)
  4. Increased outreach to resolve misconceptions
16. Discussion
  1. What happens next? We can offer recommendations.
  2. Lisa reminds SFAC that there is also a campus-based fee that students pay.
  3. The financial system to clearly delineate the fund sources so that student fees are not backfill costs for employees.
  4. The SSF allocation annually to Early Education Services is approximately FY $725,993.
  5. The Child Care Fee generates $487,000 annually
  6. John expresses concern over a large carryover in the millions. Lucy clarifies that the child care center exhausts its entire budget every year, and the SSF carryover is likely saving for capital projects.
[4:15 - 5:00] TAPS: Discussion on Measure 73 Recommendation

Background: At the February 23rd SFAC meeting, Executive Director of TAPS, Dan Henderson, visited with SFAC for the annual presentation that is required by Measure 73. Measure 73 states that each winter quarter, TAPS will present information to SFAC (ridership data, budget, etc.). After this presentation, the SFAC developed a recommendation for the chancellor related to whether the fee escalation that was voted in by students in Measure 73 should be implemented for the following year. For 2026-2027, the fee increase would be $3.00 per student per quarter, or a total of $9.00. The full language for the referendum can be found here, scroll down to Measure 73.

1. FOLDER with materials provided by Dan, including slide deck
2. Develop a recommendation for
3. The Chancellor: Document with ideas that were collected at the March 2nd meeting
4. Agenda (Metrics for TAPS)
5. Last quarter, Executive Director Dan Henderson visited SFAC on February 9th. Minutes for that meeting.

Discussion

Consensus from the last meeting was that, for future fee increases, the SFAC will recommend that TAPS meet a certain set of metrics.
Friday before finals week, there was a VEST-sponsored town hall with TAPS. The focus was on parking fee increases. It turned into a conversation about how the student fee doesn’t cover parking. There seemed to be confusion in the room. Students are not completely clear on what their fee pays for. The general sentiment is: we pay a lot for these services, and the services are difficult to access.
Concern for how the TAPS budget looks in the future….the expenses will increase and revenues will decrease.
Lisa reminds us that about half the fee goes to Santa Cruz Metro.
Lucy reminds the group that a significant amount of the fee goes to return to aid.
Metrics SFAC wants TAPS to meet: Increased ridership, increased DVS service area, etc.
1. Lyra suggests that the increase could be due to drop-off and pick up locations, and also provide assistance (by the driver).
2. Idea: use of golf carts for DVS services. This could be more of a solution.
  1. Get closer and/or change the vehicle.
  2. Is DVS only for classes?
  3. The committee discusses several suggestions to improve services.
  4. $762,000 is the annual budget from the referendum that goes to DVS.
Strawpoll: There is support to proceed (9 yes votes) with supporting the $3.00 fee increase with stipulations.
1. The letter would state that if the stipulations are not met, SFAC will not support next year's increase.
2. The committee is open to negotiating.
3. Marshall suggests that we prioritize the most important things.
[5:00] Adjournment

Upcoming Guests/Topics:

Spring CSF Meeting: April 11th -12th
University Registrar Tchad Sanger: Records Fee (late spring 2026)

Meeting and Committee Member Resources:

SFAC Roster
Orientation Materials
Agendas and Minutes
Tracking Sheet for Campus-Based Fees: Ongoing Discussion
Google Folder
Summer 26 Fee Levels