The Board of Trustees will hear a proposal to raise the student body fee from $24 to $45 per semester after the student body approved the initiative with a 56 percent majority vote last Thursday.

Student Body President Marlon Figueroa said he and Vice President Jackie Wheeler will address the board at their meeting on April 8. If approved by the board, the increase will go into effect for the 2010-2011 school year.

The student body fee is collected each semester from undergraduate students who are enrolled in at least nine hours at the university, about 7,000 students. It funds the budget for the Student Government Association, including the Programming Council.

According to the Student Government Association’s Web site, the increased budget will be used to pay for increased events on campus, such as a concert each fall semester, as well as a $30,000 increase in funding for student organizations and sport clubs

In a previous interview, Figueroa said that he believed the board would approve the increase as long as he had the student body’s support.

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