The UF chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, a group of student activists, has submitted a petition to add a question about the implementation of block tuition on the Student Government election ballot.
According to the SG election codes, signatures from at least 2 percent of the student body is enough to put a question on the ballot.
Dave Schneider, an organizer for the group and Progress Party candidate for Student Body president, turned in a petition with 1,511 student signatures to the SG office Tuesday morning. Up to this point, students haven’t been consulted at all by the administration, he said.
In December, the UF Board of Trustees approved the proposal for block tuition, setting the implementation date for fall 2012. If it is applied, UF will charge all full-time undergraduate students a flat tuition rate for 15 credit hours, regardless of how many they take.
Now the proposal will move to the Florida Board of Governors, which will meet in February to vote. It is expected to approve the proposal, Schneider said.
Because block tuition is delayed, he said, there is a lot of time left for either the UF Board of Trustees or the Florida Board of Governors to stop implementation even if the proposal is approved.
“The administration could pull the plug on block tuition if they really wanted,” he said. “Let’s force them to revisit this issue again and again.”
Schneider and other members of the SDS started gathering support on Turlington Plaza on Jan. 18.
“People would come up and literally beg to sign the petition,” he said. “They really wanted to put their names on it.”
Rebekah Hodge, a sophomore history major, signed the petition the first day.
“The reading for my history classes now is bad enough,” she said. “Having to read for five classes would be unbearable. My grades would suffer.”
SG Supervisor of Elections Amanda Griffin said the question hasn’t officially been added to the ballot because they haven’t been printed or approved.
The question would go on the ballot as a referendum, or a survey question, to gauge students’ opinion on block tuition.
“I think students will overwhelmingly vote against implementing block tuition,” Schneider said. “That is going to be a very potent symbol to the folks over there in Tigert Hall.”
Editor's note: It is incorrectly reported that the Board of Governors will vote on the proposal to implement block tuition at its February meeting. The proposal will not be on the agenda because the Board of Trustees has not yet sent it because of a request for more information about block tuition. The proposal may be sent later this year and considered for a vote.
