During the March 3 meeting of the Student Government Association (SGA), Randy Sherrod, university controller, spoke to the SGA about upcoming tuition billing changes affecting students and Director of Student Union and Activities Susan Sullivan gave an update about the new student union.
Sherrod said that Longwood currently accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express for tuition payments via credit card. However, starting July 1, Longwood will no longer accept Visa for credit card payments because of the higher processing fees the company charges. Beginning next school year, Sherrod said, the university will begin charging a 2.75 percent fee for tuition payments made with credit cards to cover costs associated with electronic transactions. Other Virginia schools like Virginia Tech, William and Mary, and James Madison University already charge similar fees. According to Sherrod, Longwood paid over $250,000 in credit card fees in the 2008 fiscal year, so the new credit card transaction charge is necessary
to avoid a tuition increase.
While Longwood has had a late-fee policy in place for several years for students with unpaid balances, Sherrod said that the university will begin charging late fees. Unpaid balances can be charged up to 10 percent lateness penalty.
Sullivan presented an update on the new student union, which is slated to go up where the Cunningham residence halls currently stand. Sullivan said that no timeline has been set for construction, but she said that the university has hired an architectural firm and is currently working with them. Originally planned for 100,000 square feet, the final plans for the three-story building include 80,000 square feet of offices, eating establishments and meeting spaces, significantly larger than the 34,000 square foot Lankford Student Union.
Sullivan showed preliminary drawings of the proposed exterior of the building as well as diagrams of the inside. The ground floor will house the café, commuter lounge and a cabaret, which Sullivan described as a mixture of a nightclub, pub and performance area, comparing it to the Tiger Inn at Hampden-Sydney College. She added that there is a possibility that alcohol may be served at the cabaret.
The second floor will house administrative and student offices, including offices for the SGA, The Rotunda and Lancer Productions, as well as a shared resource room for other clubs. The third floor will include a ballroom, lounges and meeting space. Despite the reduction from the 100,000 square feet proposed to the current 80,000 square feet, Sullivan said none of the cutbacks "ever touched any of the student organization space."
After the new student union is constructed, Lankford will be renovated but will still continue to house the post office. After renovations are completed, Lankford will be used as an addition to the library and will house academic support services.
Sullivan also noted that planners want the building certified platinum by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. The Health and Fitness Center, opened in 2007, is currently the only LEED-certified building on campus, receiving a gold certification, the second highest possible. In order to receive the platinum certification, the new student union will have to meet even more stringent guidelines in areas like sustainability, water efficiency and indoor environmental quality.
The judicial board swore in two new members, freshmen Ollie Garland and Bobby Smith.
Budget packs were due on Saturday, Feb. 28, and SGA Treasurer Tom McArdle said that the Student Finance Committee (SFC) will be sending out e-mails to clubs in the coming weeks with schedules for budget hearings. On behalf of the SFC, McArdle moved to allocate $530 to the American Marketing Association for a conference, $811 to the Fishing Club to attend competitions and $3,000 to Unity Alliance to host author and speaker Deborah Davis. All motions were approved, for a total of $4,341 allocated.
SGA Vice President Stephen Lee asked for ideas of things to cut from budget requests, noting that the SFC will have approximately $675,000 to allocate. He also said that the SGA budget has not yet been submitted, but that he and McArdle are working on it. Senators suggested denying funding requests for food and gas money and cutting conference attendance from four members to three. SGA President Caitlin Revene also suggested not allocating any money for conferences during initial allocation hearing in order to get more accurate estimates of costs closer to the time of a conference. Shortly after spring break, the SFC will begin the allocation process to distribute funds for next school year.
The next SGA meeting is scheduled for March 17, the Tuesday after spring break, at 3:45 p.m. in the Lankford BC rooms.
