SU to charge flat rate on aircon fee

Starting next school year, energy or air-condition fee in the university will be converted to flat rate, meaning students are now charged on a uniform or single fixed rate regardless of usage.

This is according to Silliman University (SU) Vice President for Finance and Administration Atty. Fe Marie Tagle in an interview with the Weekly Sillimanian last Feb. 1.

“So we compute on a per month basis, that’s why the determination [of the fee] will come later. But this time, it will be a flat rate. Averaging ni sa rates of actual utilization per year,” Tagle explained.

At present, students are charged  on the bases of classroom’s rate, class size and number of hours the room is used.

“We also talked with the student government (SG) on this, we explained to them how it looks like, and they verbalized to us what were the problems on having per hour per use (aircon fee rate). So we tried to explain… we don’t want to gain on anything, what is being charged to us is what we will charge you,” said Tagle.

This was after the SG questioned last semester why interns outside Dumaguete were charged of energy fee when they no longer utilize the classrooms.

Tagle said the administration will hold another meeting with the student government, faculty and students this month to explain in detail this conversion to flat rates.

However, Tagle explained that this will not be a consultation like the imposition of a new fee, since “only the modality of the fee’s imposition is what is being changed.”

Approval will not be called for in the said meeting, Tagle said. This is because the imposition of the fee has already been approved by the SU Board of Trustees and SUSG in the past.

“The imposition of the rates has already been approved [since the start of the energy fee]. The manner by which we imposed it is what is being changed,” she added.

As of press time, no date for the said meeting has been set.