Members of the Graduate and Professional Student Council expressed their dissatisfaction with how budget cuts will be affecting library and information technology fees during their latest meeting on Tuesday.

Carla Stoffle, the dean of the libraries, explained that libraries at the UA are expecting a 5 percent budget cut for next fiscal year and she and the library committee are brainstorming ways to minimize the effects on customers, namely professional and graduate students.

Stoffle said the new library fee will be at least $83, but could change depending on final budget figures. She also said they are willing to span the fee over the course of two years.

Stoffle explained library fees at the UA are low in comparison to other universities, although that doesn’t make a fee increase “”any better.””

A long-term solution, Stoffle said, would be to invest development in fundraising and increase endowments, as well as creating a one-credit course designed to coincide with English 102 that utilizes library resources. This, she said, would help generate instructional dollars.

No final decision about the new library fee has been made yet, according to Stoffle.    

Emily Connally, GPSC president, said graduate and professional students make great use of the library and its resources, and that the money the library is asking for is such a “”small amount compared to others.””

She said her greatest concern is that, because IT and library fees are bundled, the two would increase together, even though she admitted some IT fees are necessary for library services.

“”Whether we show it or not, we (graduate and professional students) are very grateful (for the library and its services),”” Connally said.

The council was also concerned with the IT fee and the lack of benefits graduate and professional students receive from it in comparison to undergraduate students.

Last year, the fee increased $300, then decreased by $20 for a total of $280.

Connally said that because graduate students are instructors, they should not be charged for learning materials used by undergraduate students, such as clickers.

The council plans to vocalize its opposition against this fee increase.

Connally said she was “”unhappy they (the library and IT fee) are coupled, and that they are not working together.””