USG has voted in favor of the student tech fee, after differing opinions from the senate.

If approved by the Board of Trustees in their Dec. 12 meeting, the student tech fee would see a $3 increase from $7 per semester hour to $10.

Toussaint Mitchell, president of USG, said they had taken time to do research and students currently pay $820,000 toward the student tech fee per semester. The proposed fee would add an additional $360,000 in student fees per semester.

The proposed fee would go toward increased Wi-Fi campus-wide, virtual desktop infrastructure, collaborative spaces instead of labs and the ability to pursue the use of new software and provide a technology solution center.

(See more: University CIO proposes $3 raise to student IT fee, tuition fee not increasing next academic year)

According to the amendment moving forward with the student tech fee, USG requests increased transparency with the added fee including but not limited to a detailed, yearly budget and expense report.

Ryan Reeverts, a USG senator, said the IT fund hasn’t been increased since 2006 and he believes the proposed added fee is needed to keep up with technological advances in society.

“We need this fund increased so that we can continue to evolve our wifi across campus, different things like that,” Reeverts said.

Brandon Morgan, a USG senator, said his constituents aren’t for the added proposed fee.

“We have numbers crunched up and we don’t really know where things are going,” Morgan said. “We have had things fail before where we have raised fees with housing and stuff to renovate the towers, now the towers are closed.”

Morgan said there isn’t too much faith in increasing the fee but if he can get specific numbers he would be more for it.

Reeverts said the senate wanted more transparency from the IT department.

“That’s kind of what we put together in the legislation with our resolution,” Reeverts said. “Was to get some more information on the IT department and move forward from that, with the board of trustees meeting.”

Pokemon Go Club was approved as an RSO in Tuesday’s USG meeting.  Joel Hamilton, a graduate student, said there are almost 600 members in the Pokemon Go Club.

“The Southern Illinois Pokemon Go group enables its members to network, reap the benefits of group game play, and take part in our various activities,” Hamilton said.

The group can live up to its full potential now that it is an official RSO, Hamilton said. To join the group, email [email protected] for an invite.

Mitchell said USG is in the works of creating another committee.

“The committee is going to be addressing issues on campus and actually trying to go out and solve these issues,” Mitchell said.

Staff reporter Austin Phelps can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @austinphelps96.

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