Barrett Honors College students may have a $1,000 bill to pay next semester in addition to tuition.
The fee, which was part of ASU President Michael Crow's tuition proposal to the Arizona Board of Regents, came as a shock to Honors Dean Mark Jacobs.
Despite the sudden change in plans, Jacobs said the fee would be a great help to the honors college, which would like to expand services such as better advising, more honors courses, a larger faculty and more internship opportunities.
"I know all of us were on board that a fee was one of the least malevolent ways to make the honors college better," he said.
Jacobs said the fee has been a topic of discussion since he came to ASU in 2003, but he was surprised to see it on the president's proposal for next fall.
"My opinion is that a fee or a tuition increase was going to happen within the next two to three years," he said. "What caught me by surprise was that ... [the fee] would be $1,000 and that it would start next year."
Jacobs said when he spoke with Crow and other administrators earlier in the school year, it was his impression the fee would be less and would not go to the regents this year, leaving time to talk with students over the next year.
"My plan until just a few weeks ago was to start bringing it to students," he said. "[The process] is just a little more compressed in time than I would have liked."
ASU Provost Milton Glick said he doesn't understand the confusion, but believes it may have been a misunderstanding of the proposed fee's timeline.
"I think the breakdown between him and us is when we were going to announce it and not what year it would take effect," he said. "I think from what I've seen from honors students and their expectations, they will be very positive about the kinds of services [Jacobs] would like to extend."
Jacobs also said the fee could help compensate staff who teach honors seminars outside of the college or who allow honors students to pursue honors credit in a course through a special contract.
"Already it is the case a lot of the honors system is built out of the goodwill of the faculty at ASU," he said.
UA is also working on a system to pay honors faculty, but its system would not involve student fees, said UA Administrative Associate Barbara Whittlesey.
UA's redesign would involve designating one professor in each college as "honors" who would then be given money to use at their own discretion, she said.
Jacobs said nothing was set in stone at this point and if, in speaking to students, the consensus is the fee is too much too soon then there is room for change. Students will also have a seat on his budget committee if the fee goes through.
Biology freshman Leigh Northridge said she thinks a fee of more than $250 is asking too much from her fellow honors students.
"I think it's going to discourage people from joining the honors college," she said.
In the event the fee is approved, she said she would like to see increased course offerings for students and more diversified seminars that deal with topics not associated with the humanities.
Biology and society sophomore Justin Manganiello, an honors student, also said a fee of $1,000 is a bit much but he can see the advantages of asking for some amount of money.
"I think $500, while it's kind of hard to swallow, wouldn't be unreasonable," he said. "I hope people don't get overly upset about this before they know everything."
So far three meetings have been held to discuss the fee with honors students, two at the main campus and one at the west campus. The honors college fee will be discussed at a tuition hearing Monday, Jacobs said.
Reach the reporter at rkost@asu.edu.
