House OKs giving community college students more say on fees

Community college students in Oregon would get more say in how their student-initiated activity fees are spent under House Bill 2666 , which passed the House Wednes day on a 35-24 vote.

The bill grants community college students authority similar to what have university students have now.

These fees are initiated by a community college’s student government and typically fund student programs such as educational and cultural activities, recreational sports, student involvement, student union operations, and student government. HB 2666 would give student governments the authority to allocate the funds, rather than the school’s administration.

In his speech supporting the bill, chief sponsor Rep. Rob Nosse (D-Portland) recalled his own days in college student government and the importance of ensuring that students are able to decide how their fees are spent.

“I got my start in politics when I was in college,” Nosse said. “One of the jobs of the student senate was to allocate money from the campus activities fund to clubs and organizations and athletics, in order to enrich campus life. Sometimes the decisions about what to fund and how much funding was needed were debated and could get quite heated. It was an early lesson in politics and civic life that obviously stuck with me.”

HB 2666 gives a college’s board the authority to require a referendum vote by students, and gives the community college president limited authority to reject the fee if the increase is greater than percentage increase in tuition and other fees for the upcoming year.

“We all know that democracy can be messy,” Nosse continued. “But I hope we can all agree that a process of robust input at the end of the day is preferred over someone in authority just making the decision. Community college students and their student governments should have the ability to work out the amount of a student activity fee and how it should be spent.”

House Bill 2666 now heads to the Senate.