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Faculty senate pinches students’ pockets

A possible $20 increase to the supplemental text allowance imposed upon professors at the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point is causing much debate among faculty, students and the Student Government Association.

The current limit on supplemental text materials that professors can require students to purchase is $45. The increase in this budget would raise the allowance to $65 per class.

The supplemental text allowance was only supposed to see an increase of $5.

“After at least three weeks of research and discussion, faculty and students compromised that the $5 increase was what they were going to go with,” said SGA President Katie Kloth.

Sally Reese, of University Text Rental, spoke at the UW-SP Faculty Senate meeting, claiming that a $5 increase was all that would be needed. The supplemental text fees haven’t been increased in years.

According to research done by Text Rental, 77 percent of the university faculty wouldn’t need to go above the $5 increase in allowance.

Any professor that needs to go above the allowance can get permission to do so by asking permission from their department chair, who then passes approval on to Text Rental.

“That’s never been denied in the history of UW-SP,” said Kloth.

After the initial vote by the Academic Affairs Committee in favor of the $5 increase, Senator Alice Keefe of the philosophy department proposed a $20 increase in place of the original agreed-upon increase. The motion was passed by voice vote.

SGA is currently working to persuade the chancellor to veto the legislation containing the $20 increase.

“There’s no reason for it to be $20,” said Kloth.

Alice Stoffel, purchase book manager, was even surprised by the raise in the allowance, however, she thinks that it would be a convenience.

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