The Students’ Association voted unanimously to support the General Activity Fee strategic plan at its last meeting of the semester April 22. 

The plan developed by 2012-13 SA President Jameson Berreth throughout the academic year, was originally proposed last year by SDSU President David Chicoine. It lays out a basic framework for projects students have already expressed support for. According to Berreth — who presented plan at the April 22 meeting — the idea is to help provide a more solid foundation of research for SA when it goes to the Board of Regents to ask for a GAF increase. 

“It will help bridge the gaps between senate terms,” Berreth said.

Berreth also said that because SA terms are relatively short — only one year — there can be some confusion when a new senate takes over every spring. The new strategic plan is an attempt to make the transition easier and help carry long-term projects like the Wellness Center expansion through multiple senate terms. That kind of follow-through has been difficult in the past.

“I like the fact that we have a plan,” said current SA President Ben Stout. “If you have a plan like this, it helps. It’s an outline, especially for bigger projects.”

The GAF strategic plan calls for SA to work on four major policy areas over the next three years or so. The largest of the four projects is an expansion to the Wellness Center — a project Stout said is likely to see some movement next year. 

“The most certain thing for next year is the Wellness Center,” Stout said.

All four of the projects outlined in the strategic plan call for an increase in the GAF, ranging from as little as 35 cents to as much as $5 per credit hour. The Wellness Center expansion is necessarily the largest increase at $5 per credit hour and, according to the plan, was identified through a student survey and a series of focus groups. Research cited in the plan found that 64 percent of students surveyed would support increasing the GAF to pay for the expansion.

SA senator and former SA Finance