On Thursday, Dec. 6, the Macalester College Student Government will hold an all-campus referendum for students to vote on whether to have a student programming board and accordingly raise the student activity fee by $40 each semester, President Nick Berning said.

If passed, the programming board would plan all-campus events, bring in speakers and entertainment, host dances and serve as a resource for student organizations interested in holding events.

“Most colleges and universities have a programming board,” Berning said. “For some reason, Macalester never developed one.”

Currently, different groups and student organizations plan events. A programming board run by students would consolidate this planning.

In order to adequately fund this, the MCSG will propose raising the student activity fee from $128 to $168 per year. Berning said that while this raises funds enormously, it is a negligible increase in what students pay.

It was decided that the referendum would be held in early December so that the results could go to the Trustees before their January meeting where the college’s comprehensive fee is set. The increase would therefore come into effect at the beginning of the next academic year.

Voting will be held all day Dec. 6, on the lower level of the Campus Center. Berning said that he hopes information about the programming board gets out before voting begins.

“If people know about and understand this proposal, I think they will support it,” Berning said. “I think the way this will be refuted is if people don’t know about it.”

The goal of the programming board is to provide students with more opportunities for shared experiences, which would lead to a stronger college community.

In addition, members of student cultural organizations have complained that the college leaves them with the responsibility to ensure that cultural events and programs take place. A programming board could assume some of this responsibility.

Beth Azuma ’04, one of the leaders of Asian Student Alliance, said that she thought cultural groups could benefit from a programming board.

“It could be used as a resource for planning large events. … Hopefully it would take a lot of stress off the students,” she said.

At the end of last year, the student government voted unanimously to look into the development of a programming board. A seven-student committee chaired by Student Services Committee Chair Sarah Keiser ’02 began working at the beginning of this semester to design a structure and mission for the programming board.

Keiser said that her committee has looked at other comparable schools to see how their programming boards are organized in order to help develop a plan for Macalester. A forum was held on Tuesday, Nov. 27, where leaders of various organizations voiced their opinions on several proposed structures.

“I really hope that we can create events that nearly every student will attend,” Keiser said. “I hope we are successful in creating a better campus community.”