Fee increases for the U-Pass and student services were approved by Campus Council, the last step before confirmation by the Executive Committee, last week.
The motions had been passed by the Campus Affairs Committee on February 12 and were brought to the Campus Council on Thursday.
The first motion was an increase to UTMSU fees. Currently, full-time students pay $119.16 per session to UTMSU and part-time students pay $97.58. Next fall the fee will increase to $127.15 for full-time students and $105.33 for part-time students.
According to UTMSU president Hassan Havili, UTMSU’s agreement with MiWay calls for an increase of 9% every year. The referendum voted on by students on the U-Pass allows UTMSU to request increases to the fee by up to 9% after approval from the UTMSU board.
The UTMSU board approved the fee increases at its meeting on November 24.
Havili said one of the major reasons for this increase by MiWay Transit is because of “fraud” that students commit with the U-Pass.
The U-Pass fees are expected to increase by $7.67 per session, by $10.08 in the summer, and by $4.76 for the students in the Mississauga Academy of Medicine.
Other non-academic incidental fees in the motion included a $0.26 increase in the society portion of the fee, a $0.01 increase for the Erindale College Special Response Team, a $0.01 increase for the Food Bank portion of the fee, a $0.02 increase for the Academic Societies portion of the fee, and a $0.02 increase for the student refugee program WUSC.
Fees for UTM student services were also increased.
The UTM Athletics and Recreation fee will be increased to $171.76 for full-time students, with a $3.37 annual increase, and $34.35 for part-time students, with an annual increase of $0.67.
The Student Services fee, which funds a range of programs and services, will be increased to $151.08 for full-time students with an $8.57 year-over-year increase, and $30.22 for part-time with a $1.72 increase per year.
The Campus Council also approved increases for UTM Health and Services and for the fall and winter U-Pass for UTM-affiliated graduate students.
On the other hand, for both UTM graduate and undergraduate students, the summer shuttle service fee is to decrease to $4.41, with a year over year decrease of $0.27.
Before the vote on the second set of fees, Mark Overton, UTM’s dean of student affairs, discussed Quality Services to Students, which deals with non-tuition fees.
QSS protocol allows students to be involved in decisions to increase incidental fees. QSS meets with advisory groups and service directors to discuss budget and fee proposals.
QSS also considers proposals from the administration. In order for the proposal to be accepted, there has to be a “double majority” of votes in favour—a majority of voters and a majority of student voters. If accepted, the proposal is forwarded to the relevant governing body.
Overton said Student Affairs weighs the impact of the increases or decreases on the students and tries to find a “balance” for them.
The motions passed last week will be submitted to the Executive Committee on May 11.
The next Campus Council meeting will be held on April 22.
