Ball State Board of Trustee President Tom DeWeese has delayed a vote to levy a $1,000 fee on future freshmen, saying other trustees need more time to consider the fee's effects.
Students and faculty, however, would have had only 48 hours to consider the fee, had not an anonymous source contacted the Indianapolis Star, sparking a story in Saturday's paper.
The Board was scheduled to meet Friday to vote on the fee, which would constitute a 21 percent increase in tuition, according to the Associated Press. DeWeese, however, said he decided to postpone the meeting until 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 26 to give other members more time to consider the issue.
He said his decision was not related to the Star's story.
Such an increase, according to the AP, would increase tuition for freshmen to $5,720, which doesn't include any other fees that may be approved.
DeWeese said he learned of the administration's proposal about three weeks ago, but trustee Kimberly Hood Jacobs said in the Saturday edition of the Star that she first heard about the proposed increase Thursday.
"It's a tough position to be a trustee and have a week to think about something that will impact the lives of so many students."
Both DeWeese and Heather Shupp, the executive director of university communications, said Monday it would be inappropriate to discuss the details of the fee until the Board's meeting on Sept. 26.
But sophomore Chris Borkowski, the only student representative on Indiana's Commission for Higher Education, said he is not happy with the lack of information presented so far.
"I was very much struck by this when I found out on Saturday," he said. "This has no rationalization for it."
Joe Losco, the chairman of the political science department, said he feels the University Senate, and its Financial and Budgetary Affairs Committee, should also be privy to any debate about fees.
Trustee Greg Schenkel said the fee is a possible solution to the state's budget woes, a dilemma everyone has known about for some time, he said.
During a round of budget cuts made earlier in the spring, Gov. Frank O'Bannon left Ball State about $26 million short in funding, slashing technology funding and the building repair and rehabilitation fund.
He also cut off .5 percent, or $600,000, from the university's operating budget for the current fiscal year, which started in July.
Schenkel said the trustees have not met in secret, and he said he is open to other ideas to shore up Ball State's funding.
"It's all in the eyes of the beholder," he said. "It's not a decision that's going to be made lightly.
"I think we need to keep this in perspective. I don't want to perceive that this was to be pushed through under cloak and darkness. We (the administration and trustees) talk all the time."
Indiana University and Purdue University have already implemented a $1,000 increase, according to the AP. Indiana's will go into effect next year, while Purdue's started this year.
Yet, Ball State's attempt to mimic the other institutions has raised the ire of Higher Education Commissioner Stan Jones.
Jones was not available for comment Monday, but told the Indianapolis Star that the fee was "outrageous and ill-timed because of the recession, and thousands of people are out of work. Ball State is insensitive to the plight of Hoosier families at this difficult time."
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