The Board of Regents’ finance and facilities committee will decide today if the board will vote on a $1 fee for the Illinois Student Association.

Sangamon State University student Regent Brian Hopkins said if the finance and facilities committee makes a recommendation, then the Regents will discuss the issue. The committee will meet today in Springfield.

Hopkins said the judgment of Committee Chairman Milton McClure will be the “key factor” of the recommendation.

“The ISA needs to convince Mr. McClure of the value of the fee,” he said.

The proposed $1 refundable fee would be used to help strengthen student representation by the ISA. In a referendum last January, 299 NIU students voted for the fee, and 49 students opposed it.

Illinois colleges presently pay a fixed fee to the ISA. ISA Executive Director Dave Starrett said the annual fee for four-year colleges is $300 and the annual fee for two-year colleges is $150.

Hopkins said he opposes the ISA fee. “I think the association has been very ineffective. There are some internal problems that affect it from getting on track.”

He said the ISA needs to address the problems publicly before NIU makes a “major financial commitment.”

The fee went before the Regents for a vote in May, but they decided they needed further information before they could approve the fee.

McClure said he suggested the Regents wait before voting on the issue. He said he wanted to make sure the ISA is a valid and legal organization, that an advisory group for the ISA and campuses is established and that there will be continuous campus input into the expenditure of the funds.

If these criteria are met, the fee probably will be recommended to the Regents, he said.

The Regents will meet Thursday at SSU to vote on an academic promotional increment policy that would increase faculty pay raises to $1,500 for promotions to associate professor and $2,200 for promotions to full professor.