The Georgetown University Student Association announced Tuesday that the administration has agreed to remove fees for student use of smaller programming spaces by fiscal year 2015.
According to a press release from GUSA, student groups will be able to use McShain Lounges, Bulldog Alley, the Leavey Program Room, the Leavey Club Room, all Reynolds rooms, and all rooms in the Healey Family Student Center without paying rental fees.
Fees will remain in place for spaces such as Gaston Hall, Copley Formal Lounge, ICC Auditorium, and Lohrfink Auditorium because they are “more formal, public spaces” and “cost more to maintain,” according to Erika Cohen-Derr, director of the Center for Student Engagement.
“SAC groups will see a slight benefit in that they do not have to budget for informal spaces. However, they will still have to budget for the more desirable ones,” said SAC Chair Patrick Musgrave (COL ‘16).
The agreement was part of a larger tuition allocation overhaul to redistribute funding to advisory boards. The division of student affairs will now also fund infrastructure expenses such as Hoyalink, Student Activities Fairs, trainings, and students activities administrative office costs, a total of about $65,000 annually that was formerly funded by advisory boards.
GUSA President Nate Tisa (SFS ‘14) hopes that the elimination of space fees will help centralize student life on campus. “There is a certain intangible benefit to feeling like this is your campus, this is your home. When you have to pay to use on campus space, it creates this transactional feeling that will no longer exist in spaces like the Healy Family Student Center,” Tisa said.
