ETSU students will vote during the Student Government Association election next week to either increase their student activity fee to $20 per semester or keep the fee at $4.
If passed, $15 of the increased fee would go to the SGA superfund to pay for a “major” campus event each semester beginning in the fall, SGA President Ethan Flynn said. The remaining $5 would go to the SGA 606 fund for campus organizations.
Currently, the superfund receives $1 from the student activity fee, and 606 receives $3. “It would put a lot of responsibility into the hands of the SGA,” said Flynn of the 400 percent increase. “But I can say with confidence that they can handle it.”
Decisions about the type of event – a concert, lecturer, etc. – would be made by a committee composed of eight members appointed by the SGA president, Flynn said. Four of the members would be senators, and four would be at-large student members. The ETSU Homecoming Committee would plan and execute the event.
Flynn said ETSU needs the increase to keep up with other schools like Middle Tennessee State University and Appalachian State University, both of which have $20 student activity fees.
“I think it’s a fair amount,” Flynn said. “It’s also the price range.”
Flynn also said that it would be the “fairest fee” students have. “You can have a say in how it’s spent, and every student has an opportunity to serve on that committee,” he said.
SGA Sen. Lane Shuler, College of Arts and Sciences, who is in favor of the fee, said he has experienced some resistance from other students to the $16 increase.
However, he said, students usually end up supporting the measure once Shuler argues the case. “Our student activity fee has been the same since 1980,” Shuler said. “Other schools changed their fees with inflation.”
Shuler also said he believes that more and bigger events are needed to “fill a gap” in life at ETSU. “It always seems like campus life is missing something,” he said. “This could make it more colorful.”
The online election will take place Tuesday, April 5, and Wednesday, April 6, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. To vote, go to www.etsu.edu.
The student activity fee measure will be posted on the SGA election ballot along with the names of senate and executive branch candidates.

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