Rethinking supplementary fees

By: Kaiwen Song

As a student who only just began to recognize just how expensive going to university is, I decided to investigate exactly where my money is going. Looking through McMaster’s supplementary fees list, I became indignant on behalf of the student body about all the fees we automatically pay. Even just counting the HSR Bus Pass, the Athletics & Recreation Activity Fee, and the Athletics & Recreation Building Fee, each student pays $1555.28 in total at the end of a four-year program, based on current fees. There are two main issues I am concerned about.

The supplementary fees do not consider individual need.

It seems unfair to make all students pay all components of supplementary fees regardless of whether students actually wish to use certain services during their undergraduate experience. As someone who enjoys jogging in the fresh air, I will never take advantage of DBAC. By paying a higher monthly rent to live in nearby student housing and commuting home every weekend, I do not foresee using the HSR. Neither will commuters who use GO Train services and people with their own cars. Why shouldn’t these students be able to opt out of these fees?

The supplementary fees do not consider individual level of income.

It’s quite different to ask a person who’s ineligible for OSAP due to a high family income to pay an extra $1000 per year than to ask someone who relies on OSAP and accumulates thousands of dollars in debt every year to do the same. Many students come from lower-income families, and every dollar counts, especially if they are going towards services that won’t be used. At the current minimum wage of $11, students need to work 91 hours in order to compensate for just these supplementary fees. It makes certain students’ goal of paying for their tuition, meal plan, and residence much more unrealistic.

So why does McMaster do this to their students? According to the MSU’s VP Finance, it comes down to utilitarianism. By making these fees mandatory to all, McMaster is able to offer each individual student an extremely reduced price. For example, a monthly bus pass from HSR is currently $87. Without McMaster’s mandatory bus pass, students would need to pay $696 to use HSR during the 8 months of school. You might think that it’s not your responsibility to make sure that the people who use these services get a lower price. Unfortunately, theories like utilitarianism are very complex, and a satisfying conclusion may never be reached.

However, students have the power to decide whether they wish to continue to pay these mandatory supplementary fees. Issues like this can be called to a vote through a petition signed by at least two per cent of full-time undergraduate students, or a vote of at least two thirds by the Student Representative Assembly (SRA). If either condition is met, a vote regarding whether the student fee should changed or not will occur.

It’s very easy to blame McMaster or the MSU for setting up these fees in the first place. However, it is their job to make decisions to try to benefit the student body based on the information available to them. Fees that I consider ridiculous may be considered absolutely necessary by someone else. Unfortunately, even with these structures in place to determine the opinion of the student body, they are often underused.

This issue is important to me, and it may be important to you. However, no one will ever know unless we speak up. If the majority of the student population is against my views, I’m totally fine with that. But if the majority of the student population simply doesn’t vote, then a change needs to come. I, for one, am through suffering unnecessary fees in silence.