The Student Senate voted 21-2 to approve a $49.60 increase to the existing $40 computer technology fee.

If passed by the Board of Trustees, the proposal will result in a new computer technology fee of $89.60 per semester.

“Technology is absolutely imperative to the future of this institution, and the better our technology, the brighter our future,” said student senate member George Lesica.

The motion passed following the decision last week to table, or postpone, discussion for further student input provided by network fee surveys.

Executive Vice President Marty Ruhaak said 1,050 students filled out surveys, a number he said represented “10 percent of the campus.”

“We got a lot of student feedback,” said Student Senate member Larry Ward.

Ruhaak said according to the survey results, 67 percent of students said they could afford the proposed $48 network fee while 55 percent said they were willing to pay it.

The Student Senate voted in favor of increasing the Health and Accident Insurance fee by 4 percent.

The increase will raise the Health and Accident Insurance fee to $69.20 from the current fee of $66.50 per semester.

Jone Zieren, director of the Office of Financial Aid, said “any students with nine or more (credit) hours are automatically billed” for the fee.

Ward, who approved the 4 percent increase Tuesday at the Tuition and Fee Review Committee, informed senate members “this is the only optional fee.”

Students can choose to opt out of the fee if they can show equal or better health coverage with an outside provider, Ward said.

Despite this, Zieren said 82 percent of students did not choose to find another health care provider.

The Student Senate voted to further table and refer back to the Tuition and Fee Review Committee the recommendation that the textbook rental fee be increased by $3.80 to a total of $98.95.

The decision was made in order to ensure the accuracy of the student numbers given by Dan Klingenberg, director of textbook rental.

In new business, the Student Senate voted to table a proposal that $400 be allocated from next year’s student government budget for the printing of new shuttle bus schedules.

“Four hundred dollars will give us roughly about 4,000 schedules,” said Brian Scios of the shuttle bus committee.

Student government elections results also were announced by Margie Tucker, executive director of the Student Elections Commission.