Undergraduate Student Government is opposing a $100 technology fee that ASU wants to start charging all students next year.
The technology fee is one of several new fees ASU is considering implementing in fall 2007, which also include a $50 annual Student Recreation Complex fee for all students.
Previously, only students at the Tempe and Downtown campuses were charged the SRC fee.
ASU officials said the
technology fee would be used to expand wireless Internet access to all four campuses and fund other technology initiatives aimed at
"continuously improving the student academic experience."
Wireless Internet coverage would be expanded to classrooms, public areas and residence halls specifically, under the proposed fee.
Dan Ashlock, director of Memorial Union Programs for USG, said students shouldn't have to pay extra for Internet access in the residence halls because it is part of housing costs.
"Residence halls should be paying for wireless Internet access," Ashlock said. "It shouldn't be part of a general fee."
The fee will also go toward increasing the number of technology-enabled classrooms and building more research facilities, ASU spokeswoman Sharon Keeler said in a statement.
But USG Vice President Liz Simonhoff said the University has failed to provide details about what the fee is being used for.
"[Administrators] are saying they want extra service, but they're not willing to give any details," Simonhoff said. "Their points are really broad."
Ashlock said, "They want to increase technology in classes, but we just don't know exactly what that means."
ASU officials said the fee is necessary to keep up with changing technology and to attract new students to the University.
The University isn't alone in this need, said ASU spokeswoman Terri Shafer. An estimated 73 percent of universities nationwide have mandatory technology fees, she said.
A $100 fee would add to the financial burden put on students by ASU's proposed seven percent tuition
increase for next year,
USG President Ross Meyer said.
USG will present their tuition and fee proposals to the Arizona Board of Regents on Nov. 20.
ABOR will make their final decisions regarding fees and tuition at their Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 meeting.
Meyer said he hopes students will show up at the Nov. 20 meeting to voice their opinions.
"Our goal is to get at least 20 students to speak out against the fee," he said.
Reach the reporter at: natalie.i.hayes@asu.edu.
