For the first time in eight years, the University of California's governing board voted Monday to raise systemwide student fees and a $135 hike is now set to go into effect spring quarter.

In a special meeting held at locations across the state, one of them UCLA, the UC Board of Regents voted 11-4 via teleconference to approve the increase. The regents also upped fees for some professional school students by substantially higher amounts and cut the UC’s 2002-2003 budget by tens of millions of dollars.

The fee increase covers $19 million of the $74 million in budget cuts that Gov. Gray Davis proposed for the UC earlier this month. Midyear cuts across the state will total over $2 billion. The state legislature has not yet acted on Davis’ proposals and any changes the legislature makes to the governor's cuts will be incorporated into the UC budget at a later time.

The UC expects to raise $28 million through the fee increase, one-third of which will be applied toward financial aid. UC aid will cover the total costs of increased fees for about one half of those students who receive financial aid, said UC Budget Vice President Larry Hershman.

“We should be able to cover the needy students,” he said.

Generally, needy students are defined as those with annual family incomes under $60,000.

By approving cuts consistent with those proposed by Davis, the board cut funding in several areas of the university, but left funding for instructional programs intact.

However, funds for research, public service and administration were all cut. Hershman said the only way to avoid cuts in instruction was a fee increase.

UC President Richard Atkinson, who participated at UC San Francisco, said the board needed to move quickly so the university could notify students and their families of the fee hike as soon as possible.

But the University of California Students Association, which lobbies for UC student interests, objected to the board voting on student fees when classes are not in session.

“It is entirely inappropriate to schedule a meeting when students are no longer on campus,” said UCSA chairman Steven Klass, who spoke from the San Diego campus.

Several regents expressed their reluctance to raise student fees, but only Regents George Marcus, Ward Connerly, Dexter Ligot-Gordon, the lone student on the board, and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a regent by virtue of his office, voted against the increase.

Bustamante and Connerly – often on different sides of UC issues, particularly those regarding admissions – agreed the increase places too many burdens on students and families.

“There is a substantial cost that is being borne again by the middle class and working class families,” Bustamante said, noting that students in these families do not have access to the same aid resources as needy students.

Regent Haim Saban, who left the meeting before the vote was taken, may have been a fifth vote against the increase.

Before leaving, Saban addressed Bustamante, who had spoken out against the fee increase, and said “I’m with you, man.”

Atkinson, along with Regents John Davies and Alfredo Terrazas, who attended at UCSD and UCSF respectively, characterized the fee hike as a way to spread the pain around different groups at the university. Regent Norm Pattiz, who also voted for the measure, said the fee hike was the only solution under discussion that raised revenue.

Connerly, though, said it was unwise to raise fees during a recession, when job security is uncertain for many Californians.

“We could not pick a worse time to inflict this Christmas present,” he said.

University fees have historically increased when the economy is down, while they typically remain stable and are even reduced in more prosperous times. Several regents said it would be better for the UC to adopt a long-term fee policy, under which fees would increase at a given rate over time, rather than to raise fees as a reaction to the state’s budget woes.

The California Postsecondary Education Committee approved recommendations on such a long-term fee policy on Dec. 3, which could become law if adopted by the legislature.

Regents finance committee Chairwoman Judith Hopkinson said after the meeting that though the committee has not examined CPEC’s recommendations, the regents could form a long-term fee policy without legislative approval.

The regents' vote addressed only the budgetary woes for this fiscal year, and the board will likely have to make more tough decisions regarding student fees and funding for university programs in the not-too-distant future.

Already university officials are expecting 2003-2004 to be another painful fiscal year. The budget plan for the 2003-2004 year approved by the regents in November called for a 6.5 percent student fee hike, unless the state can cover the costs. Such a buyout is doubtful since California is expected to suffer a $21 billion deficit that year.

Davis will not release his official budget proposal for 2003-2004 until January, but he has indicated intentions to further reduce the university’s funding. Major cuts proposed by Davis include a 50 percent reduction in outreach funding.

The UC may be forced to consider major layoffs and cuts to the instructional budget, said Atkinson.

“We’ve got everything on the table,” he said.