Executive Summary
The College Tuition Budget Advisory Committee (CTBAC) survey is a biennial survey crafted by the Senate of College Councils and is aimed to gauge student sentiment on tuition and budget allocation processes at UT Austin. CTBAC will be administered over a fourth-month period and the resulting data will be analyzed and presented to relevant parties.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is CTBAC administered biennially?
A: CTBAC is administered during tuition setting years which happen to occur every other year.
Q: Why is CTBAC being administered this year even though tuition is frozen?
A: Student opinion on tuition transparency is important regardless of the tuition freeze. Keeping the momentum in administering the survey is essential to gauging potential shifts in student opinion and maintaining momentum from years past.
Q: Why are some of the questions in the survey not entirely related to tuition?
A: Since CTBAC is released to the entire student body, there are a few questions related to ongoing initiatives included in the survey.
Q: Why does the survey ask me for my EID even though the results will be anonymized?
A: Survey respondents are asked for their EID to ensure there are no duplicates in responses and that ONLY UT Austin students are answering the questions. We will not include them in the final report.
Q: Who did you consult in the survey creation process?
A: Per recent changes to the SCC governing documents, surveys that seek student perspective, input, and feedback on issues within the scope of SCC must be conducted under the auspices of the assessment team within the Division of Student Affairs. The role of the assessment team is to review and evaluate the timing, sampling, ethics, and design of survey projects whose subjects are university students, employees, or alumni and to educate the campus about university survey policies.
S.R. 2301
A Resolution to Introduce the College Tuition Budget Advisory Committee Survey
August 31, 2023
Introduced in The Senate of College Councils on August 31, 2023 • Voted on in The Senate of College Councils on _______ • The Resolution _______ on a _______ vote.
Whereas, a lack of tuition transparency is an ongoing issue at The University of Texas at Austin and surrounding institutes; and,
Whereas, student voices are not often considered in the tuition setting process despite being directly impacted by increased tuition rates and minimal transparency around what programs, services, and salaries tuition dollars go towards; and,
Whereas, the cost of living in West Campus, Riverside, and surrounding neighborhoods with significant UT student populations continues to rise, with West Campus apartments costing students more than Austin’s city-wide average; and,
Whereas, students are having trouble balancing tuition costs along with costs associated with rent, groceries, and other miscellaneous expenses; therefore be it,
Whereas, tuition and attendance costs are often accompanied by both college-specific and individual financial responsibilities, thus necessitating a university-wide survey to assess these individual barriers; therefore be it,
Whereas, this survey was created in collaboration with the college councils and the assessment team within the Division of Student Affairs; therefore be it,
Resolved, to understand student sentiment regarding tuition cost, its impact on the cost of living, and the resulting quality of student life at UT Austin, the Senate of College Councils shall conduct a university-wide assessment of student opinion on these matters; therefore be it,
Resolved, that future programming, scholarship opportunities, research opportunities, student wages, student success initiatives, and other student needs be addressed intentionally and backed by the data collected in this survey; therefore be it,
Resolved, the survey will be introduced in September and will remain open until December; therefore be it,
Resolved, a report will be written in January and presented to the Senate of College Councils and the UT Austin administration consisting of the Dean’s Council, the Board of Regents, The President's office, and several other parties per request.
Authors, Faleha Quadri, Policy Director, Senate of College Councils
Daniel Islas Becker, Vice President, Senate of College Councils
Corinne Floyd, President, Senate of College Councils
Sponsors, Pavitra Kumar, Equity and Inclusion Director, Senate of College Councils
Anish Pandya, Membership Director, Senate of College Councils