About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

4 C. L. Bull. 1 (1971-1972)

handle is hein.journals/colewbult4 and id is 1 raw text is: ® 1971 United States National Stu( Student Fees THE DISPOSITION OF STUDENT FEES: ALTERNATIVES OF CONTROL by Joseph R. Grodin Questions concerning appropriate uses for mandatory student activity fees moneys and where control over their expenditure should be vested, are current topics of debate-and even litiga- tion- on many campuses. Principal reasons for this range from tight money and the university's reduction of the student go- vernment'-s allocation in order to pay for other programs, to challenges to the alleged political or activist nature of the pro- jects and programs supported by the fee moneys. The following discussion has been in preparation for several months. The article itself examines current models for student fee control and use and then suggests a new model which may obviate many of the student and administration objections to current procedures. Annotations to the article discuss in greater detail the legal aspects of student fee control. Mr. Grodin is a partner in the San Francisco law firm of Brundage, Neyhart, Grodin & Beeson. During 1968-1969 he was legal counsel to the Associated Students of the University of California at Berkeley. The article, with some minor changes and without the anno- tations, is being published concurrently in the Fall issue of the Boston University Journal. For years State U. has collected moneys from all students upon registration, in the form of an incidental fee or man- datory student activity fee, and has turned part of it over to the Associated Students, the recognized student government on campus, for use in supporting the variety of extra-curricular ac- tivities sponsored by that organization. And until recently there have been no major problems. There has been broad consensus among students, administration, faculty, and alumni as to the kinds of activities to be sponsored, and tacit acceptance on the part of the student government that the administration has the last word in the event of serious disagreement. In effect, the student government1 has been performing an essentially admin- istrative function, holding hearings and making decisions with re- spect to competing claims on the student fee, overseeing admin- istration of the money by sponsored organizations, and opera- ting the Student Union building and its facilities, all within a fairly narrow range of policy alternatives, and in a relatively pa- ternalistic context. Recently, however, the situation has undergone radical change. The students, or at least the elected officers of the As- sociated Students, are no longer content with confining their ac- tivities to those which have been traditional on campus. They feel the attraction of new horizons more challenging, more ideal- istic, more relevant to the social problems of the day. And so they seek increasingly to devote their attention, and with it the resources under their control, to new areas of campus concern: draft assistance to students; tutorial programs for minority stu- dents; minimum standards for student housing; bail funds for students who have been arrested; legal defense of students who face disciplinary action by the administration; development of new courses of study not offered as part of the regular academic curriculum; sponsorship of on-campus conferences dealing with controversial social problems. Moreover, their horizons are not limited by the geography of the campus; they are interested in using student resources to change for the better the world about them, and particularly with respect to the currently overriding issues of race relations, environmental quality, and peace.2 This new thrust of student activity presents the administra- tion with a variety of headaches. The student setiate votes to de- crease the annual appropriation for the student marching band and devote the money instead to a seminar on racism, and some students, some faculty, and a lot of alumni complain bitterly. The complaints get louder when it is discovered that the money has been used to pay honoraria to lay participants in amounts greater than those normally paid to distinguished visiting lectur ers. A member of the board of regents calls the president to ask how it is that moneys collected by the university can be used to sue the university on behalf of a student alleged to have been im- properly expelled. And a local newspaper editorializes vehe- mently against what it considers to be the use of public moneys for political purposes. In this issue of the BULLETIN. Page 7 Student Strike. An Ohio Court of Appeals and a federal district court issue differing opinions as to whether sovereign immunity bars recovery of damages from the state by the parents of students killed at Kent State. Page 9 Student Organizations. A Mississippi district court finds that a student organization is entitled to timely notice of reasons for nonrecognition. The Second Circuit affirms a district court decision upholding denial of college recognition to a campus chapter of the SDS. Page 10 Grooming Code. The Ninth and Tenth Circuits decide that suspension for violation of long- hair regulations does not present a substantial federal question. Page 15 U. S. Supreme Court. Among other actions, the court has agreed to review a decision of the Seventh Circuit holding that nontenured teachers have a right to a statement of reasons for dismissal and a hearing. Vol. IV, Nos. 1-2 - Sept.-Oct. 1971

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most