Beginning this semester, Washington University will charge fees for the use of spaces in the Danforth University Center.

Not all student groups, however, will have to pay to use the space in the Danforth University Center (DUC).

“Any student group recognized by Student Union would not have to pay. There are a couple of regular, credit-bearing classes that occur in here, and the University’s practice is not to charge [for] space for classes,” Bill Darby, director of the DUC, said. “Everybody else pays.”

As the building is used daily by crowds of students, it will require regular upkeep which these fees will help cover.

“The building does not pay for itself,” junior Jeff Nelson, Student Union (SU) vice president of administration, said.

“[Imposing the rental fees] is not something anyone wants to do. But I think the expectations are that this is a space that the entire campus can be proud of using,” Darby said. “I hope it’s that way now, but it’s going to cost money to keep it that way.”

According to Darby, the global economic situation has influenced the decision to charge fees for using the DUC.

“I think the struggling economy has an impact on absolutely everything having to do with Washington University,” Darby said. “I don’t think anyone is exempt from making some economies, and frankly, I don’t think anyone should be exempt.”

The fees will range from $25 to $150, depending on what space is rented. According to Darby these amounts are negligible compared to the costs of the DUC’s upkeep. The fees collected will be set aside to be spent as needed.

According to Nelson, SU already pays the DUC a flat fee of $100,000, which means its groups will not have to pay a per-use fee to rent its space.

The large contribution comes from the student activities fee—an annual fee that all students must pay along with tuition to support SU and its endeavors.

Nelson said there are two principle reasons why SU has chosen to pay a large flat fee over a per-use charge.

“It’s a lot more expensive to do it on a per-group basis, so with the amount of use that we anticipate the facility having, and we hope groups will be doing a lot more if we funded money to groups to rent the space, so having a flat rate is cheaper,” Nelson said. “It’s very inconvenient whenever people feel like they’re being nickeled and dimed.”

Although non-SU recognized groups are expected to pay the fee, they have other options. Darby encourages groups with limited funding to contact him to discuss possible alternatives, while Nelson suggests that the groups apply to join and become recognized by SU.

Once a group is recognized by SU, it will no longer be charged for using the DUC and would receive a number of other benefits.

Darby said he is aware of the potential problems caused by the DUC’s charges for non-SU groups and hopes their use of the DUC will not be hindered by the fees.

“The vast majority are recognized by Student Union, and for all of them, nothing changes,” Darby said. “What happens to other groups, I think we’re just going to have to monitor very carefully.”

Both Darby and Nelson support the implementation of these fees for the spring 2009 semester, with the option of revising the policy for the following semester if needed. They encourage groups from the entire community to take advantage of its facilities.

“I think with SU groups, they will continue to use the space a lot, but I do know the University wants this to be more than just a student center. They want it to be a university center where you have different departments holding meetings here [and] people in the community using this space as well,” Nelson said. “It will be interesting to see how that works out.”