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UCSC Senate opposes student-fee increases, application of salary-reduction program to all

UCSC's Academic Senate today adopted a resolution opposing further student-fee increases. A two-step proposal to increase fees will be considered by the UC Board of Regents at its November meeting.

In a second resolution expressing the "sense of the Senate," UCSC faculty members also said they opposed the fact that UC-wide salary reductions, approved by the board this past summer, were implemented for "workers whose full-time salary is $40,000 or less."

The student-fee proposal, expected to be considered by the Regents, recommends:

• A mid-year fee increase in 2009-10 to take effect with the spring semester. The proposal would hike fees by $585 for resident undergraduates, and between $579 and $654 for resident graduate students.
  
• A second fee increase for the 2010-11 academic year. The proposal would hike fees by $1,344 for resident undergraduates, and between $1,332 and $1,506 for resident graduate students.

Several senators expressed concern that the resolution opposing salary reductions for lower-paid UCSC workers might have unintended negative consequences. "I would like to know what we're going to lose to pay for this," said biologist Barry Bowman. "One of the most likely ways this will be implemented is that some people will lose their jobs."

But literature professor Christopher Connery said "this is a human need...the statement that we don't want to be below that [$40,000] is a statement of principle."