SGA Failures May Tip Election Towards Fee Increase


(Source: Flickr)

 This week, UT Tyler students will have an opportunity to vote on a measure substantially increase the mandatory Intercollegiate Athletics Fee. According to the ballot, the proposal will increase the maximum allowable amount the University can charge a student by 33 percent, from $180 per semester to $240, and phase this in over the next two years. For a student with 15 credit hours, that’s an approximately $120 annual increase. This is something every student should have a fair opportunity to vote on. However, it seems an athletics victory is more likely now thanks to multiple failures by the Student Government Association (SGA).

SGA portrays the Athletics Fee in a positive light on the ballot which may persuade voters to support it and the proposed increase. It reads: 

Do you support the increase of the UT Tyler athletic fee? The proposed fee would increase by $2 per semester credit hour (from $12 to $14) next year and another $2 per semester credit hour (from $14 to $16) the following year....This fee helps support UT Tyler's NCAA intercollegiate athletics and provides all students with more engagement opportunities. (Emphasis mine.) 

This last sentence “helps to provide, etc.” presents a seemingly positive claim about the fee's impact. This portrayal may influence a voter’s perception towards the athletics fee. It is a distraction from the real question which is “Do you favor the increase or not?” This kind of speak has no place in a ballot proposition. Likewise it would be equally unfair for it so say what might reflect a negative view on the athletics fee, such as “the athletic fee provides students with opportunities to have less money to afford food,” or "the athletics fee makes college more expensive," etc. It should state a simple definition of the question and provide a "for" or "against" response. That’s it. This sloppy language gives fee increase supporters a significant advantage and may tip the election in the athletic fee's favor.

By placing the fee question at the top of the ballot, instead of at the traditional bottom, SGA makes it more likely students will favor the increase. SGA breaks from tradition and honestly, normal ballot composition, by placing the proposition at the top of the ballot instead of at the normal bottom as it has in the past. In fact, if you voted in the March 6 Texas primaries election, you might remember the propositions were at the bottom (last).
This makes the fee proposition the first thing students see when they open the ballot.

Although it's still students who will vote on the athletics fee measure, they do so without the traditional "survey taking fatigue" that voters have had in the past with other fee increase measures, like those in 2016, when the increase propositions were at the end of the survey. By placing it at the top, the very first question, SGA affords new advantages to the athletics fee that previous fee increase initiatives didn’t face and it makes it more likely students will vote yes since they have zero survey fatigue. It's unfair that previous ballot measures did not receive this special treatment and this may help tip the election in favor of a fee increase.

Finally, SGA's failure to give all students acceptable notice of an upcoming election makes it more likely student athletes will prevail with their large turnout. Students have apparently received no notice from student government or from an official university administrator about the impending vote on the athletics fee, based on my conversations with students. The only exception appears to be the email SGA sent Thursday night delivering the link to the survey ballot, which doesn't say much.

Moreover, SGA's social media activity is super weak. It has only two tweets that mention an upcoming election--one on April 12 and another on April 18. It's follower count is 462. It's Facebook and Instagram accounts have no announcements. How are student supposed to know about an election no one tells them about! 

Meanwhile, it is likely the Athletics Department is telling all its students about the election and encouraging them to participate, as they did in 2016 when the athletics fee was last up for an increase. The tight-knit, but large group of student athletes allow athletic forces to turnout a much larger than normal but organic turnout, arguably more than any other student group on campus because of the size of the athletics program. This means athletics forces are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to student representation.

Nevertheless, students overwhelmingly rejected an athletics fee increase in 2016 when they turned out. The vote was 63 percent to 37 percent (719 students), the largest turnout in UT Tyler history. Yet they have to turn out. Back then, student participation was so high because the race for student body president was hotly contested and drew many supporters.

This year, SGA foolishly separated the president’s race from senator race by having a separate election earlier this year. Without this draw, it’s likely to yield a significant advantage to athletics and their strong turnout. It is unlikely athletics officials learned nothing from the 2016 vote. (UT Tyler has not yet responded to requests for comment about what Athletics Department has communicated to its students this year.)
Comparatively speaking, non-athletic students are at a significant disadvantage compared to athletic students to make their voice heard in this election. This unfairly grants an advantage to those in favor of increased funding to UT Tyler's athletics program (likely UT Tyler athletes) in carrying the election.

UT Tyler's student election is biased towards passing the athletics fee thanks to SGA's failure in three areas: its biased language in the proposition, its top placement of the measure in the ballot and most importantly, its failure to give sufficient notice of an election to the student body. These failures make it much easier for the athletics fee to pass. Not a good day for a student government.

Twitter: @jhescock

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