Larry Ward, newly elected student vice president for business affairs, plans to educate Eastern students about where their tuition money goes and how much of it is allocated to student paid fees.

“I think a lot of people just pay these fees without really knowing where their money goes,” he said.

To increase student awareness, Ward will create a Web site to be linked to the Student Government site.

The Web site will contain a detailed and organized overview of the student fees, including fee descriptions and the amount of money appropriated to the subcategories within each fee, Ward said.

By consulting the Web site, “you can see exactly what you (are paying for) with the textbook rental fee,” he said. The same goes for all fees.

Ward is not wasting any time getting the Web site started.

“I’d like to have the first phase of the Web site up and running the first month we get back (in the fall),” he said.

Ward wants to complete the Web site by next November.

In addition to a new Web site, Ward also intends to distribute pamphlets to students that will feature an easy to understand breakdown of the fees.

The pamphlet will list the three categories (student publications, student legal services and the Apportionment Board) that constitute the Activity Fee and receive portions of its allocated money.

The pamphlets will be placed wherever students can pick up copies of The Daily Eastern News, he said.

“There will just be a little wire basket” next to campus news bins, Ward said.

Acknowledging it will take a while to get all the information together, Ward said he plans to work on the pamphlet during the summer.

“I’d like to get (the pamphlets) done by early November,” he said.

Ward also wants to hold interactive forums where students can ask questions regarding tuition and fees.

“I will be holding one or two forums next semester,” Ward said.

The forums will be publicized to encourage the attendance of students who want to learn more about what they pay, he said.

“I’ll put an ad in the paper and fliers up around campus asking, ‘Do you know what you pay?'” Ward said.

Another of Ward’s goals for next year is to allocate money from the Apportionment Board, of which he will head, for funding toward Eastern’s Recognized Student Organizations as outlined under the proposed Student Leadership Council to assist student organizations.

Currently, “it’s hard (for small RSOs) to get funding to do projects and to do programming for the campus,” said Student Senate member Tim Edwards earlier this week.

Student Senate member Josh Jewett said Ward is the hardest working guy he’s ever worked with and is confident he can procure proper funding for RSOs.

“He will be very successful,” Jewett said.

Money for RSO funding will not be requested until next year’s student fees are transferred to the Apportionment Board account, Ward said.

As a result, RSO funding “will probably be happening in the spring semester,” he said.

Despite this timetable, the proposal for the leadership council must first be approved by both the Student Senate and the Board of Trustees before any funding can be requested.

Though the leadership council is still in its planning stage, Ward remains optimistic about his goals for the next school year.

“I’m out there with the students’ money on my mind,” he said.