Cal State Dominguez Hills professors petition to block ‘success fee’

Two Cal State Dominguez Hills professors launched a petition drive Thursday to block a proposed “success fee” that would raise costs for students.

The push came a day after President Willie J. Hagan advised in a campus email that he would recommend to Cal State Chancellor Timothy P. White that the fee be approved.

White recently approved so-called student success fees at San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton. Eleven of Cal State’s 23 campuses have now enacted the fees, with most revenue used to hire faculty and counselors and improve other student services that suffered during a period of budget cuts.

The fees, though, have divided many campuses, with opponents arguing they are a little-disguised sidestep around raising tuition. The success fees are in addition to annual tuition of $5,472 and other campus-based fees that average $1,200.

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees on Wednesday, more than 100 student protesters from several campuses urged White to roll back the success fees.

In their change.org petition, sociology professor Jose Prado and interdisciplinary studies professor Vivian Price wrote that the great majority of students at the Carson campus are working mothers who would be hard-pressed to pay additional costs for their education:

“It is obvious that their education under these conditions is really much more than time dedicated to pursue an academic dream. It is a stake in their families’ welfare in today’s trying economic times.”

The Dominguez Hills proposal initially called for a $280 per-semester success fee to take effect in the fall of 2014.

After a number of forums and recommendations from students and others, Hagan said in his email, the proposed fee would be phased in over a three-year period starting with $200 in the spring of 2015.

The proposal also calls for increasing the tuition and fee installment plan from three payments to five, appointing an additional student to the University Budget Committee and creating a Student Success Scholarship Grant program.

“My goal is to strengthen our learning environment and bolster the outstanding efforts of our dedicated faculty and staff in supporting our students and helping them to succeed,” Hagan said.

Price and Prado, however, said they were disappointed that students’ call for a referendum was rejected by Hagan.

“Chancellor White and President Hagan, our students should not pay for the mismanagement and poor administrative decisions that each of you have inherited. Nor should the fee increase keep them from contributing to their families’ and communities’ well being as it also stands to do. We respectfully ask you to reject the recommendation to implement the student success fee.”

carla.rivera@latimes.com

Twitter: @CarlaRiveralat