The Student Success Fee — a Career Services fee aimed at improving services and adding benefits to the College of Business — will be controlled by the students.
A recent survey conducted of 5,700 San Diego State students (19 percent of the student body) determined 55 percent would be willing to pay an additional $100 per semester toward Career Services. Only 26 percent said they would be willing to pay an extra $200 per semester. The Student Success fee would initially cost students $100, eventually increasing to $250 a semester by Fall 2013. Despite the survey results, SDSU College of Business Administration dean and mastermind behind the Student Success Fee, Gail Naughton, is confident the fee will be well received.
“When they see how much $100 can buy, I think students will have no problem investing $250,” Naughton said.
The colleges of Business, Science and Engineering will vote today and tomorrow on the SDSU Webportal to determine whether the fee will take effect. These colleges were selected based on their likelihood of passing the fee. Naughton expects the other SDSU colleges will be inclined to pass the Student Success Fee once they see it in effect.
However, the benefits of the fee will not be the same for every college. Each college will have its own independent fund from the fee, and its own council to dictate the use of the funds. Naughton said she views dividing the colleges as very useful.
“What business students want from the money will most likely be very different from what engineering will want to do with the money,” she said.
Though the councils will not be formed before the fee is passed, they will be comprised mostly of students, along with faculty and staff chosen by the dean of the college. Each council will also include its Associated Student college council president.
“This is a huge benefit for students because they get to determine which programs, services, etc. they would like in their college,” A.S. President Grant Mack said.
Inspiration for the Student Success Fee came from the Excellence Fee that has proved very effective at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. However, Cal Poly students pay $2,000 a year in addition to tuition for career services. However, at SDSU Naughton has no doubts the fee will be effective.
“Right now the College of Business Administration has one person looking for student internships,” Naughton said. “With the Student Success Fee, that number could be increased to five.”
There is a large amount of data from the previously mentioned survey available online. It contains information about what students think the funds should be used toward. This information will most likely be used on the Student Success Fee councils, influencing the way the funds will be used. The Webportal vote will open to all business, science and engineering majors at 8 a.m. today. The results of the vote will be known immediately afterward.
Naughton said it is imperative toe increase Career Services. As a California State University, SDSU does not have a marketing budget comparable to private schools, whose graduates will compete with SDSU graduates for jobs in this increasingly competitive market.
“The bare minimum of what a student’s tuition fee covers at SDSU (classes, programs, internships, etc.) and what the state pays for is starting to become not enough to make a graduating student competitive enough with the rest of San Diego, California, the United States and the entire world,” Mack said.
