DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano speaks yesterday at the Arizona Board of Regents meeting in the Student Union Memorial Center. Napolitano proposed a law that would allow children of dead soldiers of the Iraq war free tuition at all three of Arizona's public universities.

Regents reject $1,000 fee for nursing students

The Arizona Board of Regents approved yesterday a $500 fee for business undergraduates and denied a $1,000 fee for nursing undergraduates.

While this year's juniors and seniors will be exempt from the business fee, all other students in the Eller College of Business and Public Administration who advance to upper-division standing will have to pay the $500 on top of the $1,000 tuition increase for undergraduates.

The business fees were passed with a close 5-3 vote, after many of the regents expressed concern about the precedent they could set by approving the fees, a first for undergraduates.

Also, in a rare tie vote, the regents, citing concerns with the lack of procedural guidelines over how to approach undergraduate program fees, split 3-3 on whether to assess the nursing fee, short of the majority needed for passage of the fee.

Regents Jack Jewett and Chris Herstam didn't vote, citing conflicts of interest.

Had the fee passed, it only would have gone into effect if external sources such as hospitals agreed to pay the $1,000.

But that contingent didn't assuage all regents' fears.

"I'm concerned with a lack of guidance as far as fees for undergraduate programs," said Student Regent Matthew Meaker.

The lack of clear guidelines and the potential for establishing a precedent were also key concerns when the regents discussed the business program fees.

Regent Chris Herstam, who voted for the business fees, said he didn't want to see other undergraduate programs follow the business school's lead.

"I can understand the market approach for the business college," he said. "But I don't think this applies to other majors."

Not only should the regents be concerned about setting a precedent, they should also question whether some undergraduates should have to bear a heavier financial burden, especially as they have to pay an extra $1,000 or $1,250 to cover the largest tuition increase in UA history, said Regent Gary Stuart, who voted against the fees.

"While I believe this is a sound plan, it's premature, and it feels uncomfortably close to a big tuition increase," he said.

As part of the proposal for implementing fees, Mark Zupan, dean of the business college, said he would set aside 15 percent of the revenue for financial aid. In addition, he received pledges from private sources to fund 80 $500 scholarships for needy students.

The business college will protect 10 percent of its students from the fee, he said.

After surveying students last semester, the college's student leadership voiced support for the fee. The Eller BPA Student Council said in a proposal that they wanted to see the revenue from the fee used to improve areas such as increased elective offerings and reduced class sizes.

Despite the support for the fee by the Eller BPA Student Council, the Associated Students for the University of Arizona adopted Wednesday a petition against the business program fee proposal.

Student lobbyist and business senior Ryan Patterson, who wrote the ASUA petition, said that while he was not against the fee, he wanted two assurances.

The first guarantee was that students who receive merit scholarships would not have to pay the extra $500.

As he sat before the regents yesterday, Zupan said he would protect students who receive tuition waivers based on merit.

"It's good there was an oral commitment," said student lobbyist Nick Green. "Now we just have to get it on paper."

The other assurance ASUA's petition asked for was that only professional programs would be allowed to implement fees.

"You'd be better off voting on a policy that says fees like this can only be brought up by professional programs," Patterson said.

But Arizona State University President Michael Crow assured the regents that only the business college was being encouraged to consider program fees in order to move closer to market prices for a business education.

The regents also approved a $500 fee for ASU's business college.

While the regents did not require that only professional programs be allowed to implement program fees, some said they want to see a policy in the future that would establish guidelines for programs to follow before proposing fees to the regents.

Student Regent Matthew Meaker has only a few more months as a member of the board, but he said before his term expires he wants to work with regents and administrators to establish guidelines and clearer procedures.

Despite ASUA's resolution and regent concerns, some business students said last night that they considered the fees an investment.

"It's your education," said Susan Kunkel, a finance sophomore, who expects to enter the business college next year. "What's the extra $250 (per semester)?"

Kunkel, who was originally a biology major, said she switched to the business college because she found it more accepting and enjoyed the group work.

She said she doubts the fees will deter students who are considering a business major.

"I don't think the fee's going to change anybody's decision," she said.

For other students, though, the fee came at a bad time. Combined with the $1,000 tuition hike, resident business students will pay an additional $1,500 next year. Non-residents, who are facing a $1,250 tuition hike, will pay a total of $1,750 more.

"I don't think enough consideration was given to spreading it out over a number of years," said Dan Coperich, president of the Delta Sigma Pi professional business fraternity.

But Michael Rudolph, president of the Eller BPA Student Council, said that the present is the best time to start the fees that will generate revenue solely for the business college.

And with other business schools raising their fees, students who come to UA still save a lot of money, he said.

In addition to approving a $500 fee for business undergraduates, the regents also approved program fees for students pursuing a master's in nursing, a doctorate in nursing, a doctor of pharmacy and degrees in the School of Information Resources and Library Science.

÷ Stephanie Schwartz and Jeff Sklar contributed to this report.