Regents say no to reg fee hikes
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 24, 1994 9:00 p.m.
Regents say no to reg fee hikes
Anticipated state money would fund faculty pay raises
By Gil Hopenstand
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
For the first time in recent memory, students and University of
California Regents alike are championing no reg fee hikes next
year.
Regents recently issued their proposed budget for the 1995-96
year, which maintains annual student fees at $4,111. The budget
also allocates money for increasing faculty pay and hiring
additional staff.
The optimistic figures are based on the hopes that state
legislatures will provide the university with $145 million more
funding than last year. The additional money will swell the UC
budget to almost $2 billion.
But the expected state dollars are still not guaranteed.
"I hope the legislature will give us (funds) necessary to
fulfill the commitment not to raise fees," said Regent Ward
Connerly, stressing that promised funds are not definite. "A lot
depends on the economy."
"Based on conversations with the governor, we have a very high
commitment from the state that the University of California is
important and deserves priority attention," Connerly said.
Other regents expressed their hesitation to fully embrace the
no-increase idea.
"I’d say right now its about 50-50," Regent Glenn Campbell said.
"Our administration will have a contingency plan in case that does
not happen."
Connerly said that if the state legislature will not pass the
proposed budget, the university may have to raise fees slightly
next year.
"We might need a 3 to 5 percent increase in fees. Would that be
the end of the world? I don’t think so. I hope the student
community would say this is tolerable," said Connerly, adding that
he favored not raising fees this year to compensate for the large
increases over the last few years.
"I think the students were shocked that we came in with a
no-increase plan. They’ve gone up so substantially over the past
few years  125 percent in the last four years  and so
there is a certain amount of shell shock," Connerly said.
But Campbell said that halting fee increases will not make a
difference for many students.
"This no-increase business is fine to talk about but students
still have to pay board and room. That’s still the largest amount
for students," he insisted.
Students statewide have spoken in support of the budget plan,
particularly in light of the heavy increases passed over the past
few years. Since the 1989-90 school year, fees have increased 225
percent.
"Our students can’t take this anymore. We have a strong
institution and our students can’t afford to work more or take more
loans," said Andre Quintero, chair of the UC Student
Association.
"We, at UCSA, have been lobbying the regents for two years to
stop including a student fee hike as part of their base budget
every year, so it is encouraging to see that the voices and
concerns of students are having an effect on the regents’ decision
making," said York Chang, UCLA undergraduate external vice
president.
"As positive as these developments are, we need to stay focused
on holding the regents accountable to this new budget and to
keeping education financially accessible to all," Chang added.
The new plan also asks for merit increases for UC faculty and
staff, designed to "restore (UC) faculty salaries to the average of
the comparison institutions." The proposed budget allocates more
than $13 million for a 3 percent faculty and staff pay raise for
this year. An additional $69.5 million has been earmarked for
another 5 percent pay raise the following year.
Quintero said that his group is already developing ideas now on
what to recommend to the regents in case the state does not give
its promised funds.
