May 1, 2017

A message from SGA President Paige Hungate

A planned Y and wellness center has been a point of conversation among students, faculty and staff since its announcement in early March. After constructive dialogue with students, staff and administration, the 60th Session of Student Government Association will be voting on the initiative Wednesday, May 3. When it was brought to the floor of the 59th Session, students raised valid concerns -- concerns about a potential reduction in staff size at the Heskett Center and, most notably, a per-credit-hour fee hitting some students harder than others. These concerns have been addressed. Funding at the Heskett Center will remain the same as before and no Heskett Center employee will lose their job with this development.

The Y conversation also made the administration take a hard look at how student fees are done at the university as a whole. Now, a "flat fee" has been proposed instead of the current per-credit-hour fee. By levying fees by headcount instead of by credit hour, the university can add in a wellness fee and increase the athletics fee and still, for most students, raise student fees by only about 3 percent.

I, Student Body President Paige Hungate, stand in support of this development. I look forward to the Senate's vote on the initiative, and hope through continued dialogue, we can come to agreement and move forward with this proposal. Feel free to send concerns along to myself, Paige E. Hungate, Student Body President, at 978-7060 and / or sga.president@wichita.edu, or to Andrew Linnabary, director of public relations, at 978-7270 and / or sga.pubrelations@wichita.edu. As always, my door is open to address concerns and questions.

Students First,

Paige E. Hungate
Student Body President, Wichita State University

Per WSU's March 1 release:
Wichita State University and the Greater Wichita YMCA announced today (Wednesday, March 1) they are in advanced discussions to build a new YMCA on Innovation Campus to serve WSU students. Under the plan, WSU students would automatically be Y members and have access to the nine full-service YMCAs located in Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties. The 60,000 square foot facility being discussed would also include state of the art workout facilities, student health and wellness services and a drop-in daycare center.