University officials are opposed recording the Fee Advisory Committee meetings, which will be open to the public when they begin next week, according to Tom Stafford, vice chancellor for student affairs.
Student Senate President Greg Doucette said he and other members of Student Government want to put the videotaped meetings online through a University server and use a YouTube-style server to embed the video directly into the ballot for the fee referendum.
“The big thing is getting more information to students that enables them to make a more informed vote when they participate in the fee referendum at the last Monday and Tuesday of this month,” Doucette, a senior in computer engineering, said.
The fee referendum is a system that was started last year, in which students have the opportunity to vote on fee requests presented to the fee committee. Students can vote this year on Sept. 29 and 30.
But Stafford said Doucette’s plan is not going to happen.
“I don’t think any of the University administrators that are involved feel it was appropriate to put University [meetings] on YouTube for the whole world to see,” he said. “The other concern has to do with whether or not students will actually be willing to sit down and watch…anywhere between 12 and 15 or more hours of videotape,” he said.
Meetings of the University Advisory Committee on Fees are open to the public and scheduled to begin next week, according to Stafford.
The UNC Board of Governors’ policy is that every proposed fee be reviewed by a fee review committee. Stafford indicated that the system already in place is a good one that takes student opinions and concerns into consideration.
“The four students [in the fee committee]… will be attending all the meetings and be able to ask any questions about fee requests,” Stafford said. “As a result, those four students along with all the other members of the fee review committee will be the most informed people on campus and the ones who will be able to make the best judgment.”
Even with this system, students have little influence over decisions made by the committee, according to Doucette. “The committee itself has four student members and all of the rest of the committee is made up of members of the University administration,” Doucette said. “At no point are the students really able to exercise a majority…” According to Stafford, the University plans to place information regarding fee requests on the University homepage so any student can see it. He also said that, although reading this information is helpful, it is not the same as attending fee committee meetings.
“It’s not comparable. It’s not even close,” he said. “If you’re not at the meetings you don’t have the benefit of the discussion, questions raised and the responses to those questions.” Lindsay Whitton, a freshman in First Year College, said she thinks putting the meetings online would be an effective way to keep students informed about meetings of committees such as the fee committee. “A lot of people can watch TV better than they can read a book,” she said. “Its better access for students.” Bryan Young, a junior in sports management, said he thought the videos would be especially effective if they were placed somewhere students had frequent or easy access to, such as the university website. “It would be a great idea because everybody could see what is going on,” he said. “If people are aware of [the resource] they would use it and I don’t think it will be a waste.” Students can vote in the fee referendum at vote.ncsu.edu on Sept. 29 and 30, Doucette said.
