The Undergraduate Student Government approved the support of a $10 student activity fee increase at its Tuesday meeting.

USG members will also attend the Nov. 8 Board of Trustees meeting in Edwardsville to show support for the increase. The student activity fee has not increased since 2002, said Donald Castle, Student Center programs director.

Castle addressed the USG Sep. 24 to propose the student activity fee increase from $37.40 to $47.40. He said the fee increase would ensure there is enough money for student programming events and larger-scale as well as inclusive events. It would also go toward efforts to increase student satisfaction in the events’ quality and quantity, as well as to allow more students to be successful in programs’ plans and execution, he said.

USG Senate President Adrian Miller said the proposal’s approval would benefit students in the long run and allow for more student retention.

“Increasing this fee will allow more large-scale events for students as well as more diversity within those events,” Miller said.

Miller also said the fee increase will benefit the campus because $120,000 could be put back into the USG budget so funding cuts will not have to be made.

Six Registered Student Organizations requested funding for various events, but each request had to be cut because of the low USG account balance, which totals $12,671.07.

New Undergraduate Recruitment and Student Education requested $193.92; African Student Council requested $544; Turkish Student Association requested $375; Speaking and Teaching requested 1,219.25; OOPS Entertainment requested $307; and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority requested $3,121.72.

USG made $1,581.08 in cuts and approved to allocate $4,179.09 among the six groups.

USG also approved requests for three new RSOs: SIU Longspurs, College of Science and Arts Ambassadors and the Saluki Shawnee Association.

The cuts in funding requests caused dispute among the senate members because of different opinions and confusion in mathematical conclusions. Each funding request amount brought an array of questions from senate members.

A student, who said he was a former USG senate member, addressed USG in regard to its concerns over funding requests.

“When I was in USG, we did a lot of things differently that have caused me to have concerns about tonight’s meeting such as the things you all approve funding for as well as everyone talking over each other,” the student said. “If the rules have changed, then I apologize, but this is not how we used to do things when I was a senator.”

USG President Brittany Greathouse thanked the student for his constructive criticism and assured him the group is working to better its meeting structure.