SAA must meet quota in order to continue collecting voluntary fees
The Student Alumni Association (SAA) has always collected voluntary fees from its members, but it has not been a concern for the organization until recently, when the association became a Registered Student Organization (RSO).
RSOs that collect fees must follow certain campus regulations concerning membership numbers. On Oct. 22, an ASUCD resolution was successfully passed, allowing SAA to continue collecting fees under the condition that they have a certain amount of people pledging to pay the voluntary fee by the end of this year.
SAA is an organization that allows individuals to enjoy the benefits of a Cal Aggie Alumni Association membership while still being enrolled as a current student at UC Davis. Previously, SAA was an unregistered organization, which allowed it to collect fees without needing to follow certain campus policies.
Current SAA president Annette Nguyen, a fourth-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, has been very involved with the resolution process. In an email interview, Nguyen specified what exactly the new resolution entails.
“SAA has [successfully] passed a resolution through ASUCD last week stating that SAA has one year’s time to reach a membership of 10 percent of the undergraduate population in order to continue charging a voluntary quarterly membership pledge,” Nguyen said.
ASUCD Vice President Gareth Smythe, a fourth-year political science and history double major, explained how resolutions are passed.
“ASUCD can pass a resolution that states the opinion of the student government that [SAA] should be allowed to continue taking voluntary fees from students,” Smythe said. “The resolution has to be concurrently approved by the chancellor’s office and student government.”
Anne Reynolds Myler, the director of the Center for Student Involvement, explained that SAA is facing these special circumstances because of their voluntary fees.
“This is not a membership policy for all the clubs and all the student organizations that register have [to] follow,” Myler said
Myler made it clear that under normal circumstances, RSOs only need five active students.
Since the resolution was passed, a contract must be formed between UC Davis and SAA in order to sustain these policies.
“The contract is the mechanism for how the collection and the processing of the fees is going to happen,” Myler said.
Jillian Giblin, a fourth-year exercise biology major and SAA vice president of outreach, believes that complying with the new resolution should be simple. In an email interview, she explained that many students are highly interested in joining SAA.
“We do not find it difficult to motivate students to join SAA,” Giblin said. “Our goal of the [SAA] is to connect current students with alumni through various networking events.”
For more information about becoming a member of SAA, see their website.
“Many students are eager to join this organization and have the opportunity to talk with alumni in their respective fields,” Giblin said. “During outreach and tabling events, we do our best to inform students of the benefits, events and programs we offer, and encourage students to seek out additional information on our website or contact us if they have any questions.”
