Fitness & Recreation Center Access Fee Referendum
(Campus Community Center Fee Referendum)

This fee increase is proposed to ensure that students maintain access to both Millberry and Bakar Fitness and Recreation Centers and their diverse programming for a comparable cost. Unlike the Millberry Fitness and Recreation Center, the Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center was not built using student funds and therefore is not mandated to provide student priority access. This fee increase will establish student priority access at Bakar.

Students who recognized the need for fitness and recreation facilities at UCSF initiated the construction of the Millberry Union on the Parnassus campus in 1958. Funding for the original construction at Millberry was provided through a combination of state funds, donors, and reserves generated by a student-run bookstore. Upon opening Millberry, students voted to assess themselves a Student Union Fee, establishing the Campus Community Center Fee (CCCF) to support the fitness facility's operations. Unlike other UC campuses, UCSF did not collect compulsory campus-based student fees for capital improvements or new facilities at UCSF.

For nearly 50 years, Millberry was the primary fitness facility at UCSF. The Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center opened on the Mission Bay campus in 2005 without any student funding support for the construction. In 2007, a student referendum to increase CCCF fees to secure priority access for students was narrowly defeated. After the 2007 referendum failure, a remedy was developed to secure student access to the new fitness facility.  The UCSF student chair of the Campus Community Centers Advisory Council requested funding of $80,000 from Student Services Fees (SSF) to preserve priority student access to the Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center.

However, the current SSF funding (currently $97,333 annually with approved inflationary increases) that has been in place for 17 years expires in July 2020. The Student Service Fee Committee, faced with budget shortfalls in 2020-21, voted to no longer fund student priority access for Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center and, accordingly, the funds are being reallocated. 

The Referendum 

To offset the loss of SSF funding, a student referendum will be held to raise the CCCF to cover funding for Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center access. The amount requested is $129,777 ($97,333 + associated $32,444 of Return to Aid fees) to the CCCF.

The referendum would increase the current CCCF by $14.00 per quarter per student, from $52.00 per quarter to $66.00 per quarter, and the increase would be effective starting in fall 2020. The quarterly fee will continue to be assessed in the fall, winter, and spring. Summer access will be free for students who enroll during the spring quarter. Per University policy, 25% of the fee increase will be used for financial aid. 

View the Referendum Information Sheet

Currently, the Campus Community Center Fee (CCCF) funds student access to the Millberry Fitness & Recreation Center, but not the Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center. Should the CCCF be increased by $14.00 per quarter per student (from $52.00 per quarter to $66.00 per quarter) to include student access to both Millberry and Bakar Fitness & Recreation Centers?

A YES Vote on Referendum: The CCCF fee will increase by $14.00 per quarter, from $52.00 per quarter to $66.00 per quarter. No change in student access.

A NO Vote on Referendum: The current CCCF structure would remain in place. Students would be required to purchase a Premier Student Membership at $30/month for Bakar access.

At the moment there are no other funding options. If the CCCF increase is approved, but the campus later allocates other funding sources or decides that SSF will continue funding to support the Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center, Chancellor Sam Hawgood has the authority to assess a reduced CCCF level per campus regulations.

2. What are the current Funding Sources for Fitness & Recreation?

The majority of funding is generated through student, staff, faculty, and community membership and program fees. While students comprise 23% of the total membership they only fund 5% of the total operating costs. Student fees for Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center access accounts for 0.7% of total funding. 

The CCCF supports student priority access to both Millberry and Bakar Fitness Centers for a full year. CCCF is only collected for Fall, Winter and Spring Quarters. Summer access to Bakar will be free for students who enrolled during the Spring. 

4. Who is sponsoring this referendum?

The Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) is sponsoring this referendum. The referendum was initiated by the Student Service Fee Committee.

5. What is Return to Aid (RTA)?

Per University and UCSF campus policies, any compulsory campus-based student fee, approved as either a new fee or an increase to an existing fee, shall provide for fee revenue for local need-based financial aid ("return-to-aid") to be set aside in an amount equal to at least 25% of the total new fee, or fee increase, as appropriate. These funds are not conferred to Fitness & Recreation but to need-based financial aid.

In May 1996 UCSF students approved a referendum that established a mechanism for adjusting the CCCF on an incremental basis due to inflation and operational increases without going to referendum. The mechanism is best described by the language in the 1996 referendum:

Beginning in 1998-99, the [CCCF] may be increased based on the approval of the Executive Boards of the ASUC and [GPSA] as proposed by the[insert name of the current authorized body][UCOP1] , provided such increases are not greater than 5% in any consecutive 2 year period. For increases greater than 5% in a 2-year period, a student referendum is required.

Please note that future increases will be calculated based on the total CCCF should the 2020 referendum pass. 

7. What will happen if voters approve the referendum?

Effective fall of 2020, the CCCF fee will increase by $14.00 per quarter (from $52.00 per quarter to $66.00 per quarter). 

This will result in a single fee that will provide continued student priority access at both Millberry and Bakar Fitness Centers.

8. What will happen if the referendum is not approved?

Student access to Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center would be available only as an optional add-on membership. Students would purchase a Premier Student Membership at $30/month, which includes facility access, Group X classes, and towel service.

Students would continue to receive access to Millberry Fitness and Recreation Center, as this is contained in the current CCCF structure.

Millberry Fitness and Recreation Center would likely have a surge in attendance, which could mean less access to and longer wait times for fitness equipment. 

9. If the referendum is not approved, what would be the difference between Student Access and a Student Premier Membership?

Student Access would include access to the following at Millberry Fitness and Recreation Center only:

To participate in Group X classes, a Single Day Pass ($25) or 10-Visit Pass ($175) is required.

Student Premier Membership would include access to all of the above at both Millberry Fitness and Recreation Center and Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center, plus:

Over many years there have been zero or minimal increases to the Student Services Fee, and as a result the SSF funding allocations to various units have not been able to keep up with cost increases. Over the last five years, the Student Services Fee was intended to increase by 5% each year, and it was mandated by UCOP that half of the increased revenue from these 5% fee increases would be used to support additional student mental health services. SHCS expanded mental health services by hiring counselors, and the associated costs need to be funded based on the original five year plan and ramp-up in funding. However, the 5% fee increases were only implemented for the first three years due to system-wide policies, and the SSF has remained flat for the last two years. So UCSF only received three out of the planned five years of increases in the SSF, which has contributed even more to a budget shortfall.

All registered UCSF students will be emailed a ballot on May 6, 2020. Voting will be open through May 20, 2020.

Students will not be charged for the Spring Quarter.