GSB to revisit tuition freeze in special meeting

Makayla Tendall

In addition to the regular Wednesday night Senate meeting, the Government of the Student Body will meet at 9 p.m. on Monday to discuss the tuition freeze. 

At the Nov. 12 GSB meeting, GSB President Hillary Kletscher called a Senate Special Meeting after the regular meeting. Kletscher wanted to discuss the senators’ decision to fail a proposal to waive the second reading of a resolution on tuition freeze. 

However, Kletscher was informed that 48 hours of written notice was required before enforcing a Senate Special Meeting. 

The resolution stated that the GSB believes “if tuition for non-residents would increase, it should not exceed [a] 1.2 percent [increase] in order to allow for financial planning” so students could budget for higher tuition.

The resolution also stated that GSB would ask the board to consider that long-term planning be implemented instead of planning for tuition increases or freezes on a year-by-year basis so families can plan.

The last point was that performance-based funding, which would fund regent schools based more on the higher number of in-state schools, should be implemented so “state funding follows Iowans and promotes affordability and accessibility.”

Gabe Walsh, speaker of the Senate and cosponsor of the resolution, asked senators to waive the second reading that would bring the resolution up for discussion at next week’s meeting so that the recommendation would appear on the Board of Regent’s public forum packet for December’s board meeting.

The regents will discuss a possible tuition freeze during December’s meeting.

Other cosponsors of the resolution, Kletscher and Dan Breitbarth, vice speaker of the Senate, also advocated to waive the second reading because they felt waiting another week would mean the recommendation would not be given to the board in enough time for the resolution to appear on the public forum packet.