USGD Rescinds Barrett Fee Increase Feedback Survey Per Request of Barrett, The Honors College Dean Mark Jacobs
Dear Students,
Per the request of Barrett, The Honors College Dean Mark Jacobs, Undergraduate Student Government Downtown (USGD) has temporarily stopped taking responses to our feedback survey regarding the Barrett proposed fee increase. Dean Jacobs requests that students attend the Downtown forum to ask questions directly and find out more information about the potential fee increase.
Dean Jacobs, among others, will be present at the Barrett Fee Increase Meeting on Friday, February 15, 2019, at 3 p.m. in UCENT 286 to answer all questions and concerns regarding the proposal. We highly encourage students to ask questions and voice their feedback.
USGD’s initial survey was used to get a sense of how students may have been using Barrett resources on the Downtown Phoenix Campus, as well as to identify areas of improvement based on student feedback. We will resume collecting responses once the forum held on February 15 is concluded.
However, USGD will still be collecting questions for Downtown students unable to attend the forum, similarly to how we would gather questions for a Student Forum with President Michael Crow. This is not a new practice. In addition, this survey is not associated with the Change.org petition or other BHCC/other USG campus surveys.
We will also collect and distribute more detailed information after the forum. Our regularly scheduled USGD Senate meeting on Friday, February 15 will begin at 2:30 p.m. and will be recessed at 3 p.m. so that USGD members may attend the meeting and ask questions on students’ behalf.
Prior to the forum, it is important that students are aware of the proposed fee increase. Barrett, The Honors College, has proposed a fee increase from $750/semester to $1,000/semester, beginning in fall 2019, that has been submitted to the Arizona Board of Regents for consideration this spring. The fee has increased by $250/semester approximately every five years since the fee's inception in 2005. The funds gained from the increase would go toward initiatives such as 1) securing a larger Barrett space for Downtown students, 2) hiring an all-Barrett internship and research coordinator, 3) increasing professional development opportunities, 4) building a student success center in Vista, and 5) support for more global initiatives for Barrett students, such as global classrooms and study abroad opportunities/scholarships, among other things that will be explained in greater detail at the forum.
The mission of USGD is to advocate and represent the students of Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix Campus. University-wide, USG was “created to provide a unified forum for inter-university dialogue” as established by our constitution. It should be noted that USGD operates under the Downtown Phoenix Campus Dean of Students, not individual colleges.
We value collecting feedback before administrative decisions are made, whether that be within Undergraduate Student Government Downtown or beyond. Barrett, The Honors College is a part of our Downtown Phoenix Campus community, and we believe it is important to advocate on behalf of all students, including those 666 enrolled in the honors program.
If you have questions or need more information, please contact USGD Barrett Senators, Kellen Donovan (kjdonov1@asu.edu) and Renuka Vemuri (rvemuri1@asu.edu), or the ASU Downtown Student Body President, Aly Perkins (asperki2@asu.edu).