When Kent State’s Board of Trustees doubled the international student activity fee for this academic year, many international students were unaware they were funding an additional $36,000 to International Student Services. 

The board raised the activity fee from $10 to $20 at a Board of Trustees meeting in March of 2013.

David Di Maria, director of international programs and services, said the fee was increased to fund new programs and cover orientation costs for Kent State’s 2,497 international students on campus this fall, which has almost tripled since 2009. 

In addition, the fee also funds international student transportation, tax services, food for specific events and trips. 

“Orientation was the main thing we were going in the hole with,” Di Maria said. “We also have international education week that has gone up 7 to $8,000. We had to ask for money from other departments on campus, and we want to be able to fund our events independently.”

But Bahareh Gharehgozlou, president of Kent State International Mentors, said the group was unaware they could apply for funds from the fee. 

“The only fund that we get is $300 per year [from USG], which we spend for promotional stuff,” said Gharehgozlou, a translation studies graduate student from Iran. “We need these things to go on because we want to provide some interesting activities for international and American students. That’s why we need to think of more resources for funding.”

Gharehgozlou said she was not notified about the fee increase either. Di Maria said International Student Services did not notify international students, as all other tuition and fee changes are noted in the Board of Trustee’s minutes on the Kent State website.

“For international students, we have this extra $20, but we don’t know how this money is spent exactly,” Gharehgozlou said. “I don’t think students know about it. I didn’t receive any notification.”

Shelley Blundell, a British student and a graduate appointee in the College of Communication and Information, said that in her 11 years at Kent State, ISSS did not announce the fee introduction in 2007 or its raise this year. 

“The first time I had seen the fee had increased was when I saw that line item on my bursar’s bill,” Blundell said. “As an international student who has spent a lot of money at the university, I think it’s fair to ask for accounting for how the extra fee is spent.”

Domestic student groups are also eligible to use the fee if a group’s event has a “cultural component” deemed acceptable by ISSS, Di Maria said. ISSS assistant director Desnee Stevens said no domestic student groups have filled out the funding request form online or come to ISSS for funding. 

“If money is specifically taken from international students to fund events open to the university community, why is this fee not being assessed to the entire university community?” Blundell asked. 

The activity fee was first introduced in 2007 in addition to Kent State’s general fee that covers student activities. The purpose was to fund special events offered for international students. 

Di Maria said before the fee, community volunteers made food for students and picked them up from the airport. International Student Success Services outsourced these services to Kent State Dining Services and outside transportation services. 

Di Maria said talk of raising the fee began in 2011 when results from a survey, called the International Student Barometer, showed international students wanted more interaction with the campus community. 

One of the programs the fee funds is the International Village Experience started in Fall 2011, which pairs international students with domestic roommates. Now housed in Koonce Hall, the IVE’s projected annual expenses, which cover all activities for its residents, are projected to cost $4,800 this year. 

Di Maria said students were notified of the fee’s raise through meeting minutes on the Board of Trustees website, exactly how other fee increases are communicated to students.  ISSS did not take any further action to inform students.

Di Maria said students should have been notified, and the fee is something ISSS should have increased by small increments every year. However, students will see its benefits.

“I think it was long overdue,but at this point, we are able to cover the costs,” Di Maria said.

Madeleine Winer is the news editor for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].