In February, a $495 student fee increase proposal was announced, with promises that several underserved organizations on campus would receive increased funding.

Two student open forums, as well as a presentation at an Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) senate meeting led to open discussions about what the fee would mean for students.

According to Ashley Ilic, senior director of University Marketing and Communications, the fee increase will be decided in “early April.”

The proposal has brought up several concerns among students.

The Collegian sat down with Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval on March 20 in an interview to discuss the proposed increase.

How did we get to this fee increase, and why? Specifically $495, how did we come up with that number?

I find myself in this time of changing and shifting athletics that I can no longer ignore the fact that we need to directly address the athletics program.

$5 million is going towards athletics. That’s a huge number. So is there a way people can see the breakdown of that specifically as well?

We can provide that and we have given you ideas of what the $5 million will address, including internships within athletics.

Is any of that money going to be used to fund the Pac-12 or the Mountain West exit fees?

No, not at all. A fee has to directly return to a student with a service rendered to the student.

How is this money helping students?

Without the athletic component at Fresno State, we would become a, how do I put this in terms that are not going to be offensive to those who don’t have the athletic component, we would become a university like every other.

How does that increase our educational value?

When you look at degrees from universities with strong athletic backgrounds or with strong athletic departments, and those that do not, you, for the most part, have brand recognition that cannot be compensated if you don’t have the athletic component.

If a successful athletic program increases an institution and educational value, does an unsuccessful program diminish its educational value?

Potentially. It’s very clear to me that decades in the making of this brand of these underdogs that become wonder dogs, that’s really where the magic happens in the athletic component.

Why does IRA (instructionally related activities) include intercollegiate athletics? It’s instructionally related activities. So how are athletics an instructionally related activity?

It is not just a Fresno State-specific use of IRA, but it’s a [CSU] system-wide use of IRA as well.

Last time there was a fee increase was under John Welty’s presidency and students got to vote on it. So why is that not the case? How was the authority decided? Why do you get to decide?

I’m not deciding in a vacuum. I’m deciding based on more than 1,000 people who have participated in the survey.

There’s a list of the services that are scheduled to receive money. How come there isn’t somebody from each of those areas to represent them on the Campus Fee Advisory Committee (CFAC)?

It is not to have representatives from each of the areas, because that would imply a conflict of interest.

Then why is the athletics intern [on the committee] not a conflict of interest? [On the CFAC there are six staff/faculty members, three ASI representatives and two student representatives, one of which is an athletics intern.]

It could potentially be perceived as that. It’s one student who is there. Overwhelmingly though, the other students could potentially offer a different perspective from that individual. I think what needs to be addressed here is that it is a conversation with many fronts. It’s a conversation with the cabinet, it’s a conversation with ASI, it’s a conversation with the feedback. It’s a conversation also with the fee advisory committee.

Out of all those entities, which one holds the most power in influencing the proposal?

I mean 1000 students right now so far, has a pretty powerful weight on all of this. However, I also have to say that from my perspective as President, I have the ability to look at the university and its needs from a macro level.

In the spring of 2024, there was a resolution passed against the funding athletics received from IRA. You directly said you were going to address the Academic Senate in the fall of 2024 but you didn’t. Do you plan to address them at all about this?

I have addressed them about this fee already. I have gone before the senate. I’ve gone before the academics and the executive senate as well.

So what happens if there’s a majority consensus that some of these areas [based on student surveys], let’s say athletics, should not be getting such a large chunk?

My charge from the trustees is to be a good steward of Fresno State. To be visionary about what will benefit the overarching culture at Fresno State of student success.

Is anything going to help with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)? We currently still don’t have a DEI officer. Is anything going to help with that?

We have multiple identities intersected within our students. When a student sees a program that speaks to their own identity, they will likely feel a sense of belonging.

So are you still going to hire another diversity officer, or is that just off the table? Is that position just going to stay open?

Right now I am compiling information and feedback on, where do we go from here with this particular decision? How do we utilize the funds that we have available with two positions that are on the table in order to fully leverage the ability to communicate across all of the various cultural groups that we have on campus.

So pretty much you’re trying to determine whether or not the position is necessary?

I’m trying to determine next steps on this position moving forward. I’m trying to determine, for example, how do we create more synergy between CCGC and Student Affairs?

What would it take for this fee increase proposal to not go through? Or are we just waiting on what funding will go where?

If we don’t have the fee increase, we don’t have the component of athletics. If that were the case, then we would have to talk about the existential question and I mean that in every term, of whether or not Fresno State should have Division 1 athletics.