Future overload fees disputed in open forum

By Jack Wagner

Students were granted the chance to formally vocalize their complaints against the proposed overload fee on Monday -- the first time since the initiative was announced March 30.

"This school is defined by its medium student but it's distinguished by its overachievers," said sophomore Mike Haney, an ROTC cadet. "I think this policy, although not intended to target them, is really going to hurt them."

This means Haney, also a philosophy and political science double major, has to take military science, a four-unit class, every quarter. This makes it more likely he will need to overload.

Haney and other students gathered in the St. Clare Room of the library in an open forum to bring concerns to university officials.

Ever since it was announced undergraduate tuition would include a fee of $1,038 per unit over 20 units, students have been voicing their distaste with the new policy.

Immediate backlash from students about these fees caused administrators to hold the initiative back for one year.

For students who chose to attend the forum, this still was not enough.

Students in attendance did not want to see the tuition hikes go into affect at all. Many didn't want to be confined to just one major. Others said they couldn't graduate on time with double majors without overloading.

Students also said they wanted to overload due to their plans to study abroad.

They pointed out that they came to college to try new things and penalizing students for overloading on classes was wrong in their eyes.

"We came up with a positive dialogue that we can use to create a policy that will make sense to the university," said Student Body President Sean Brachvogel, who moderated the forum.

Brachvogel and Lucia Gilbert, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, both opened up the meeting with comments before students were broken up into small groups to discuss why they were dissatisfied with the new initiative.

Following the group sessions, students were invited to speak into a microphone and then there was a short question and answer period with Gilbert.

The forum concluded with statements from both Gilbert and Brachvogel.

Students took to the microphone to state their cases. Freshman Kanishk Desai was one of these.

"When I came here, what really set Santa Clara apart was the Jesuit values and that they said 'Yes, you'll have the opportunity to do your double majors, get all your classes with small class size and explore what you really want to do," she said.

Student comments were aimed mostly at Gilbert, who came to the event on behalf of Santa Clara administrators to listen to the views and opinions students had towards the policy.

She mostly listened to what the students had to say, sitting at a desk facing the audience, and was equipped with a microphone to directly answer any questions that were put to her.

The forum was attended by many students, staff, and affected persons, but the room was still only half full.

The attendance could have been larger, but as Brachvogel pointed out, juniors lost interest in the tuition overload fees once the one-year postponement was announced because they would graduate before the initiative is implemented.

Regardless of the administration's final decision regarding the tuition overload fees, students can now say that they have been heard.

Contact Jack Wagner at jcwagner@scu.edu or (408) 554-4546.