As the pandemic continues, here are the fees UFV students will — and won’t — be paying this summer
Campus Connector and U-Pass fees — Suspended
As per a press release sent out last month, the Student Union Society (SUS) has suspended fees for both U-Pass and the Campus Connector shuttle. Both items have been removed from the list of fees for the summer semester, presenting a total savings of $65.70 per student.
According to SUS’s press release, the Campus Connector will be available again in the Fall 2020 semester.
TransLink has suspended the U-Pass program until at least Aug. 31. However, fare collection has also been suspended aboard all of TransLink’s conventional and HandyDART buses for several weeks, allowing free transit for all riders until June 1.
The Cascade newspaper and CIVL radio station fees — Continuing
Both The Cascade and CIVL radio are continuing operations throughout the summer semester, and student fees to support them have not been suspended.
Aaron Levy, CIVL’s station manager, said via email that the station is “offering more remote training and production opportunities than the ones already available” in the wake of COVID-19.
In addition, Levy said that CIVL’s plans for 2020 include continued sponsorship of the annual Fraser Valley Music Awards, the introduction of a new website and streaming platform for broadcasts, and continued funding efforts toward student scholarships and community stimulus.
For its part, The Cascade has shifted to online-only distribution until fall at the earliest, but will otherwise continue to operate at full capacity.
Student Union Building fees — Continuing
Although the Student Union Building has been closed until winter, students enrolled at UFV during the summer semester must still pay the standard $35 fee. These fees primarily go toward paying off the cost of the building, which opened in 2015, and therefore are not affected by COVID-19.
SUS IT Service fees — Continuing
According to the Student Union Society’s website, the IT Service fee is put toward paying for the Student Device Support (SDS) program. SDS is not currently offering walk-in service during COVID-19, but has extended its hours and continues to remotely offer free tech support for students via email, phone, and remote desktop control.
SUS membership fees — Continuing
SUS also continues to operate during the pandemic, and continues to require a per-semester fee from its membership.
Budgets posted on the SUS website show that income from membership fees is spent on a variety of operational expenses, including staff salaries, marketing and promotions, and day-to-day costs for campus restaurants operated by SUS.
The Cascade reached out to SUS for more detailed information about how the money received for membership fees, building fees, and IT services will be spent, but did not receive a response by press time.
