A student advisory board could receive almost $4800 in additional funding next year as part of NIU’s health service fee.

Rosemary Lane, director of the University Health Service, proposed the 1 cent per-credit-hour fee for the Student Health Advisory Committee at the Feb. 18 NIU Presidential Fee Study Committee meeting.

This was part of a 32 cent per-credit-hour increase the health service requested for next year’s budget. If approved this would raise the student health service fee to $4.45 per semester for full-time students.

Lane said in the past, SHAC received “partial, limited funds” from the health service travel budget to send some members to annual American College Health Association meetings.

The SHAC fee would not only help the organization, but it would also save money in the health service travel budget, Lane said.

“I asked them to go before the Student Association for funding to attend the ACHA meetings and for publicity, but they couldn’t get the funding,” Lane said.

Don Davidson, assistant provost for resource planning and fee study committee member, said, “Historically, they (SHAC) had gone to the SA and been turned down or funded and it didn’t work out. I suspect that the (fee study) committee will want to discuss this matter further.”

Davidson said the health service is concerned about receiving accreditation and having a student health advisory board is a major factor in the decision.

Preston Came, fee study committee member, said SHAC is “going the proper route for funding.

“There seems to be past precedents that groups like this have not been funded through the SA,” Came said.