Student Government watched three budget presentations at Wednesday’s meeting while also meeting quorum with 12 senators out of the 11 needed to meet quorum present.  

These presentations came from University Board, Eastern treasurer, Paul McCann and the student government itself.  

The university board is asking for an increased budget of $59,702 for the fiscal year 2024. The total budget for fiscal year 2024 is $264,882, which will be spread between the eight committees on the university board.  

The increase in the budget includes increases to graduate assistant stipends, upgrades in equipment and events not being included in the budget. The budget presented includes expenses for next year’s family weekend and Winter Welcome Dayz, which will be under the traditions committee.  

Paul McCann, director of business services and treasurer, said that students will see a 3.2 percent raise in fees for next school year. This increase is $770.39 for the entire school year, which is $385.19 per semester.  

This is across all parts of campus, including tuition per credit hour and housing and dining fees. While Mark Hudson, Eastern’s director of housing and dining, already presented on this, McCann wanted to give the entire picture in relation to the total cost of attendance for the 2023-2024 school year.  

The total cost of attendance for the 2023-2024 school year is around $24,473.32. This fee is only for incoming undergraduate students and includes most fees as well as tuition per credit hour and housing and dining, assuming the student gets the twelve-meal plan and has a roommate in a standard double room.  

Tuition is per credit hour for both undergraduate and graduate students and there is about a $6 raise in the cost per credit hour. Undergraduate students must pay $330.10 per credit taken and graduate students must pay $335.85 per credit taken.  

Most costs presented by McCann have no more than a $7 raise, with an almost $5 decrease in Martin Luther King Jr. University Union operation fees.  

Despite the cost of tuition, housing and a variety of fees going up, Eastern remains the lowest cost of attendance of all universities within the state of Illinois.  

None of these budgets have been approved by the senate. Once they are approved by the senate, these get passed along to the board of trustees for a final vote.  

Emergency bill 22-23-14 was passed with a vote of 8-0-4.  

Senator Nicholas Macaluso abstained as well as three senators including senate speaker Karolina Guzek. As for why she abstained, Guzek declined to comment. 

This bill will release funds to the entrepreneurship club. Student senate will be collaborating with the organization to provide food to vendors at the vendor fair held on April 15 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the library quad.  

Student Government elections for the spring 2023 will be pushed back to fall 2023. The elections are hoped to take place the second week of the fall 2023 semester.  

The last meeting of the semester will be held April 19 at 7 p.m.  

Katja Benz can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].