After a majority of students opposed raising student fees by $250 last fall in a poll conducted by Union Well Inc., Sacramento State still plans an increase to expand the University Union and Well.

No exact numbers have been determined, but Leslie Davis, executive director of Union Well Inc., said the increase will be less than the original $250 and they are working to keep the pricing as low as possible to meet the growing demand of the campus community.

“We learned a lot in the fall,” Davis said. “We listened and we are coming back by making modifications and bringing forth projects and components that the students said they wanted the most.”

Last semester, Union Well Inc. held about 27 open forums and emailed questionnaires to students in attendance to gauge their support for a new event center and expansion of the Union and the Well.

When a majority of the participating students said they did not support the fee increase, President Alexander Gonzalez declined the proposal and asked for a revised project that would cost less and fit better with what the students demanded.

In response, Union WELL Inc. is working with Union and Well Staff, Facilities Services and the Harper Reta Group Architects to create an expansion with a smaller scope than the one proposed last semester.

That smaller scope will eliminate the plans for a new event center as the focus will be on creating more space for students in two of the most popular buildings on campus.

“We are still looking to do a small ballroom and we want to add five additional meeting rooms to the University Union,” Davis said. “We want to add 250 to 500  to the food service seating and 250 to 500 in casual seating.”

Other goals include moving Peak Adventures back to its original location in the Union and then renovating that structure as a two-story component.

Union Well Inc. Board of Directors Chair Caleb Fountain said there is a strong demand for the additional space they are proposing.

“The ballroom is pretty much booked all semester,” Fountain said. “The rooms in the Union are used tremendously. When you are walking around the Union, you can see students sitting on floor.”

For the Well, the board is seeking additional space for fitness, locker rooms, health and counseling and athletic courts.

Chiara Bellisario, a senior majoring in recreational administration and president of the Ski and Snowboard Club, said she supported the expansion because there are never any lockers available when she goes to the Well, but also understands why others would be against it.

“The cost is a big thing,” Bellisario said. “We are all struggling college students because we keep getting fees for things we don’t use.”

Junior music major Nick Micheels said the university is neglecting more important issues it can focus on such as outdated classrooms and poorly structured recital rooms.

Micheels sees how not having enough space in the Union can be annoying to some people, but said there are plenty of places to eat at outside the building.

“I understand it can be frustrating,” Micheels said. “But look at the reason that we are here. To be comfortable during lunchtime? For the money we spent we should be getting the most of our education.”

Fountain said he has heard the argument for spending money on education versus money on recreation many times before and wants students to understand there are two different pots of money, which makes it impossible for them to focus their funding on classrooms and teachers.

Only money coming from the state can go to academics while the student fees are designed for specific services such as the Union and Well which cannot be used for anything else.

 If students have memorable experiences on campus then it will improve and motivate them academically on campus, Fountain said.

“Academics is most important,” Fountain said. “But all these other things that come out of social experiences like discovering how one defines themselves as an individual can be just as valuable.”

Megan Sammons, a pre-nursing senior, agrees with the expansion plans because she has experienced the Union getting really crowded.

“Being in a sorority, it is really hard to get room,” Sammons said. “We end up getting squished and it is a struggle to get in.”

Once the costs of the project are finalized, Union Well Inc. plans to poll the students once more to see if this proposal is met with their approval.

Finding a way to improve the amount of student participation in the new surveys is a main focus.

“We are going to try to do more classroom presentations if we can and also try to do something a little more electronically,” Davis said. “We are still in the planning stages of that process.”

Davis estimated only 1,200 students participated in the informational meetings last semester and only about a quarter of that number actually took the time to fill out a survey.

Fountain said he does not know why the Board of Directors did not send out a mass email.

“I suggested it,” Fountain said. “But a lot of things were going on and we did not have a whole lot of time. It will definitely look a lot different this semester.”