Loyalist campus services at risk under new funding rules

By Alan-Michael Steele

BELLEVILLE – The Ontario government has announced that ancillary student fees are to be made optional starting this fall.

Ancillary student fees fund services and programs on campus such as college-operated radio stations like Loyalist’s 91X  which could face decreased funding under the new rules. Station manager Greg Schatzmann said he is concerned that students desperate to save money could de-fund important services.

Students operate the 91X Radio station from the Loyalist Campus, the station provides 5 full time jobs to students. Photo by Alan-Michael Steele, QNet News

“I feel if students are given a sheet of things they wish to fund and many may just look at it very quickly saying ‘oh if I don’t fund these things I’ll save maybe altogether a couple hundred dollars and they may just do that without thinking of the wider implications,” said Schatzmann.

Schatzmann says that most of the station’s funding comes from student fees, with some extra provided by fundraising and advertising. He also said that a worst case scenario where they lose that funding could make it impossible to continue operating the station, leading to the loss of several full and part-time jobs for students.

College radio isn’t the only service at risk. Student fees fund a large number of services ranging from campus health centres to student athletics. President of the Loyalist College student government, Scott Rook, says that ancillary fees provide the funding for the services student government provides.

“Having this funding sort of at risk is a little bit concerning, however we’re waiting on more information from the province,” Rook said.

It still hasn’t been made clear to colleges what fees exactly are required to become optional, and which are still able to be made mandatory, however Rook says they plan on running services as “business as usual” until they have more information.

Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, Merrilee Fullerton, supported the changes. She said in a press release that, “Student fees in Ontario can range as high as $2,000 per year and, too often, force students to pay for services they do not use and organizations they do not support.”

The release also says that “fees for essential campus health and safety initiatives will continue to be mandatory,” however does not provide any additional details on what fees are to be made optional.