Associated Student Government Senate proposed a new system for determining the annual increase to the Student Activities Fee on Wednesday.

Senate members will vote on the bill next week.

Student Groups Vice President Bill Russell and outgoing Financial Vice President Malavika Srinivasan introduced the resolution, which proposed tying annual increases in the SAF to increases in room and board.

For the 2009-10 school year, students pay $46 each quarter for the SAF, the source of funding for Northwestern student groups.

Legislation passed by the senate in 2006 implemented the first increase in years, said Srinivasan, a SESP senior. Based on the bill, the Board of Trustees decided on a 3 percent annual increase to the SAF until 2017.

But due to the economic climate last year, the fee was frozen along with the University budget, so no increase occurred this year.

“To prevent that from ever happening again, based on a suggestion from the administration, we decided to propose something that would tie the increase to room and board increases,” Srinivasan said.

Russell, a Weinberg sophomore, and Srinivasan said pegging the SAF increases to room and board is “advantageous” because it will allow the fee to increase based on inflation and other economic factors, as room and board costs do.

Speaker of the Senate Samir Pendse encouraged senators to discuss the bill amongst themselves and with their constituents before next week’s vote.

“This affects what we all pay and what future students will pay and will drastically affect student groups one way or another,” the Weinberg senior said.

Next week senators will also vote on a proclamation of support for NU’s Living Wage Campaign. If passed in senate, the bill will provide support on behalf of the entire student body.

The Senate also confirmed Emma Kerr as ASG financial vice president. The Weinberg junior was selected by a committee earlier this week and sworn in during the meeting. The ASG financial vice president is the head of the Student Appropriations and Finance Committee, which handles funding for A-status student groups.

Senators also passed a bill endorsing Students for Ecological and Environmental Development in their investigation of how to implement a “for-here” reusable mug option at Norris University Center Starbucks.

The passage of the bill gives SEED the support of ASG as it researches the best way to implement this proposal and its financial impacts. SEED Senator Julia Brook introduced the legislation.

“Sustainability functions on multiple levels,” the Weinberg senior said. “Conceptually it is a big picture, but more importantly there are smaller steps that it takes to get to the big picture. This bill proposes a small step … for Northwestern and its goal of sustainability.”[email protected]