Petrina Francis
& Juliet Capper
, Gleaner WritersPRESIDENT OF the University of the West Indies Guild of Students, Damion Crawford, issued a letter to the deputy principal on Thursday charging that the method used to calculate tuition fees was flawed.
He also charged that the details behind the proposed inflation figures were withheld.
According to Mr. Crawford, the students are questioning the calculation of the Full-Time Equivalents (FTE), which should adequately represent the number of students enrolled in courses at the university.
" We are of the view that that the figures used by the Bursary Unit to calculate FTE do not accurately represent enrolment for the year 2003/2004, therefore leading to the faulty projections for the year 2004/2005," he stated.
The Guild alleged that the Bursary Unit used registration figures for March 2004, which did not include students who were enrolled and awaiting financial and academic approval. The view held is that the figures 'grossly' underestimated the June 16 figures, which indicated a massive increase in student population. Although the Guild strongly opposed the incorrect calculation of the fees, the university's administration was still determined to proceed with the fees set by the university council.
COST RECOVERY RATIO
According to a representative at the UWI's Public Relations Office, the fees set for the academic year are in accordance with its previous commitment to attain a cost recovery ratio of 20 per cent of the total economic cost on all three campuses. The idea is to keep the annual increase in line with the country's inflation rate (or 10 per cent of the economic cost).
The fees are less for students at Mona Campus, unlike that of the St. Augustine and Cave Hill campuses, which remain unchanged based on 20 per cent. At the UWI, the tuition fees have been increased by 10 per cent although the Consumer Price Index in Jamaica at the end of 2003 was increased by 14.1 per cent. According to the public relations representative, the decision was made to spare the students the full increase based on the university council policy.
The operating budget presented to the university council, according to Mr. Crawford, was 4.9 billion dollars, a figure, agreed on by a task force. But the Guild of Students is questioning a subsequent operating budget of $5.6 billion and are refusing to accept the increase, because the method used to arrive at the figures were flawed.
