Use of Student Activities fees viewed negatively amongst large percentage of student population

Amber Nagy and Nikkitta Sanders are among the 78 percent of Point Park University students who pay $150 a year, or $75 a semester, for the Student Activities fee, only to attend less than five of the 50-plus events staged at the school each year.

What is worse, while Cayla Tulick said she may have attended daytime events or movies, she is one of the 54 percent of students who said they did not even know the events were happening.

On another front, Chris Moore is one of the 72 percent of students who take the shuttles to Oakland, but he is also among 89 percent of Point Park students who have never taken the other shuttles available on scheduled shopping trips and visits to the Waterfront, paid for with the Student Activities fee.

These were among responses of a detailed survey which suggested 77 percent of the 2,550 full-time students who pay $382,500 a year in Student Activities fees feel they do not get their money's worth. Out of the money received, $221,850 goes directly to Student Activities.

Using a statistical model that guarantees findings within 10 percent of accuracy, a total of 79 students were surveyed on Tuesday, March 24, and Wednesday, March 25. According to custominsight.com with a 10 percent error rate, the findings of the survey have a 95 percent confidence rate yielding a 10.9 percent error rate.

Among the surveyed students, Iva Provias, Kevin Carlson and Bethany Paquin were interested in a variety of events, such as movies and special holiday dinners like the St. Patrick's Day dinner, but they were among 68 percent who said staging events as late as 9 p.m. on campus when 68 percent of its students are commuters will ensure poor attendance.

Emily Anderson is among the 74 percent of students who would like their activities fees to be made into vouchers, giving them discounts on things like movies off campus, dining off campus and Pirates games.

"I'm not shocked that 77 percent of students feel it's not being used to their benefit," Ashley Dalton, director of Student Activities, said. "I would also say that those 77 percent probably don't know where that money really goes. People think that their $75 comes to me to entertain people, and that's not what we do."

Dalton said that while most students do not know this, money from the Student Activities fee also goes to the Collegiate Readership Program, which supplies the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and USA Today to students and to the Recreation Center and recreation programs, according to Dalton and Keith Paylo, dean of Student Affairs.

"I get the Post-Gazette at my apartment, so I don't pick them up at school," Stephen Graves, a senior sport, arts and entertainment management major, said.

"People have probably gone to more events that they don't know have been co-sponsored by their fee," Dalton said.

Student Activities has spent $35,000 this year and co-sponsored 30 events, such as the Black Student Union's (BSU) Black History Month as well as Monte Carlo Night with the office of Campus Life.

One of the main objections to the Student Activities process was promotion. The survey showed that 98 percent of students said the Point Web events calendar is not a good form of promotion. Molly Foster, a junior photography major, and Dan Geffel, a senior advertising and public relations major, were among the majority of those surveyed who indicated that they were unaware of a large amount of the 50-plus events Student Activities has held this year, ranging from movie showings to viewing the presidential debates.

"We certainly recognize that the events calendar is not ideal for anyone, and I am surprised you had 2 percent of people who actually said it was good way of promoting," Dalton said. "It's good if you know you saw a sign about something you wanted to attend and wanted to double-check the date."

Recently, the university has contracted the Smith Brothers Agency to redo the Web site. Dalton added that she would like the events calendar to be downloaded to Facebook, or event dates sent by Windows Outlook or text messages in order to improve communication between students and the university.

Student Activities has recently set up a Facebook group with a current member count of 165 people, which is less than 6 percent of the full-time undergraduate student body. Student Activities sends all of its events to everyone that is a member.

"If you go to the Student Activities page on [Point Park's] Web site, we have a link to our Facebook page," Dalton said. "Our alias is Pioneer Hall."

Dalton said they have been sending e-mail blasts to every eligible student, but students responding to the survey said it still does not work. Fifty percent of the respondents said posters around the campus are a good way to promote events.

"There have been speakers and competitions that I've missed because of not knowing about the event," Rebecca Shaffer, a commuter and senior broadcasting major, said on the survey. "Many times, I get e-mails for events late the night before or the day of the event. It is a little late by then!"

When it comes to events on campus appealing to all students, 63 percent of students surveyed said they do not believe events are broad enough to appeal to everyone.

In response to questions in the survey about events missed but wanted to attend, Sanders, a junior criminal justice major, said, "I don't remember specifically, but they were all on Fridays at night and late afternoon, and that is when I work."

She said that kept her from attending Steelers tailgate parties and the special viewing of the presidential debates that were funded by Student Activities.

Nagy, a commuter and junior applied history major, said she missed the movie nights because they are "too hard to attend not living on campus."

Tulick, a junior psychology major, said she was "not informed of events," like 54 percent of other students surveyed.