The Faculty Senate voted 7-to-1 to oppose the proposed athletic fee increase during its Tuesday meeting.

Five members abstained from voting.

The proposed increase would raise the cost of student fees by $6.30 per credit hour, with athletics receiving $5.36 more per credit hour.

Senate Member Jeff Ashley, who motioned for the opposition, said he disagreed with the proposal from Dan Nadler, the vice president for student affairs, because of the way it has been presented.

“I don’t think anyone is opposed the athletics; they’re opposed to the way it’s being run by Dan Nadler,” Ashley said.

Ashley said after speaking with Student Senate about Nadler’s presentation of the proposed fee increase, he did not feel students were given complete information.

“(Nadler) said that our athletic fee is $8.64 a credit hour, which pales in comparison to all of the peer institutions that are either $20 or $21,” Ashley said. “What he didn’t reveal was a separate line for grants-in aid for athletic housing; that’s $11.95 per credit hour and other institutions don’t split it off.”

Ashley also said when adding the two numbers together, it is $20.59 per credit hour, which is in line with other institutions.

“He’s going around telling the Student Senate, us, everybody else with his little dog and pony show that the athletic fee is $8.64, which is correct,” Ashley said. “But it also has $11.95 that is spilt off.”

He also said he thought it was odd that Eastern would be that far off when compared to other institutions.

“My problem isn’t with athletic funding; it’s with athletic mismanagement and the fact that while the rest of the campus, with declining revenue, has to cut on the spending side, athletics seems to not want to do the same thing,” Ashley said. “So, increasing the student fee allows them to not address their spending; it just covers for the fact that they plan on spending the exact same amount.”

Ashley also said a bigger issue with the fees is Nadler is trying to sell the increase with only partial information.

“(Nadler) is making it seem like our athletic fee is a lot lower,” Ashley said. “The reality is it isn’t, so it comes down to transparency and the process.”

The members also held a vote to decide who will step in as the chairman, vice-chairman, and recorder for next year’s Faculty Senate.

Jemmie Robertson was nominated to be the next Faculty Senate chairman; Jeff Stowell was nominated for vice chairman, and the recorder positions would be spilt between Jeannie Ludlow and Jon Oliver. The reason for the spilt is Oliver would be on a sabbatical for the fall semester, and Ludlow would be on sabbatical for the spring semester.

The senate members also put off a request from the Coalition On Intercollegiate Athletics, because of having no formal motion on the item. COIA is made of different Faculty Senate and other administration facilities to investigate the actions of intercollegiate athletics in different institutions nationwide.

Luis Martinez can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].