The University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) provided a method for all students to have a voice in the newly instituted facilities fee by completing its designs for governing the fee Wednesday.
The student assembly adopted the Facilities Fee Board Internal Policies document, which provides for a subcommittee consisting wholly of students to meet prior to meetings of the board itself.
According to the policy, "it is the recommendation of [UPUA's] Facilities Committee that the subcommittee be open to any student or students that wish to be a part of it so long that they have some vested interest in campus facilities and the allocations of the facilities fee."
Facilities Committee Chairman Nick Mance sponsored the new policy, which outlines the final details of the Facilities Fee Advisory Committee.
"One thing that is new, I think, is the whole thing with the subcommittee," he said. "We just kind of wanted to leave it open to everyone."
The facilities fee was approved by the Board of Trustees in May and taxes students $50 per semester and could increase in the future. It is to be used only for recreational spaces, such as additional intramural field space or renovations of on-campus workout facilities.
UPUA President Gavin Keirans seemed relieved the process of creating governance for the fee has come to a close and the money can actually be put in to play.
"We've been talking about the facilities fee issue for six months now, this puts a close to it as far as internal, external, any type of board procedures," he said. "Now it's just a matter of it actually physically meeting, which will be a great day."
UPUA also confirmed two more executive board positions, confirming former UPUA presidential candidate Ricardo Torres as director of community service and former UPUA representative Pat Gordon as director of off-campus student affairs.
Torres also serves as vice president of Circle K, an international collegiate community service group.
Additionally, Torres was involved in both the now-defunct Undergraduate Student Government as well as the beginnings of UPUA.
Gordon, meanwhile, is the president of the Off-Campus Student Union and is a regular attendee at State College Borough Council meetings.
"Lot of respect for both of them," Keirans said of the new appointees. "I ran against Ricardo for president my freshman year, my first time running. We have a good history; he's one of the best people you could ever get for community service. And Pat's one of the top leaders for off-campus life, so bringing them both to the table only advances us as an organization.
