Eliminated academic programs. Reduced hours in campus facilities. Layoffs.

Those are some of the visible consequences at the University after millions of dollars continue to be cut from higher education in Georgia.

However, there are other not-so-obvious fees beginning to emerge as a result of the economic climate.

Incoming students were one of the first groups to feel the effect of the cuts when they were advised to bring their own bedsheets to orientation.

“Basically, in years past, we have had orientation linens provided as part of our ‘Conference Package’ because renting the University residence halls during the summer becomes like a conference-operated thing,” said Milly Gorman, associate director of admissions. “And that was one of the things we eliminated this year due to budget reasons, so students brought their own linens.”

Gorman noted the goal in removing linens was to not increase the fee of attending orientation for new students.

“Each year orientation has to produce enough revenue to cover the cost of running the orientation program,” Gorman said. “This year we did not include linens for students staying in the residence hall for their overnight stay during orientation. In years past, we have noticed that many students were bringing their own linens and pillows, so we opted to remove that cost this year.”

The cost of providing linens is $10.25 per student. This year, orientation had approximately 4,800 new students. The University saved nearly $49,200 by not providing bedsheets for incoming students.

Gorman said she isn’t aware of any complaints from students, but linens were provided for students who did not bring their own.

“I thought it was fine,” said Anna Konieczny, a freshman from Atlanta. “Some people just brought sleeping bags, which was much easier than dealing with bedsheets.”

On the other hand, John Rodriguez, a freshman from Guyton, only brought a comforter and a blanket, but no bedsheets. He asked for linens to be brought to his room, but they were not delivered, and he was charged $10.25.

“That night when I was in my bed, I just had my blanket and comforter,” Rodriguez said. “I had requested [the linens], but they were not put in my room. They put the charge on my account, and I had to go through this long process and e-mail two people so I could get it off of my account.”

Another sign of the troubling economic times is the fee increase at the Resources Fair this year.

Organizations participating in all 16 first-year fairs was $50 last year, but the fee increased to $130 this year.

Organization attendance at all 16 first-year as well as five transfer fairs cost $65 last year, but it increased to $170 this year.

Gorman said the fair requires the use of the facility, labor and equipment and the money received from fair participants only covers the costs incurred.

“The fees went up a good amount,” Gorman said. “That’s because fees went up on us in using the spaces, tables and chairs, so we were just trying to cover the cost of the Resources Fair. But it stayed the same for student organizations and off-campus departments, so not just the students received that increase.”

Georgia Cobb, a senior from Pensacola and president of the Ecology Club, said the ecology department usually funds things such as the Resources Fair to get students involved.

“If it came down to it, we wouldn’t pay for it,” Cobb said. “A lot of student organizations don’t have that much money at all. Just like everyone else, we’re just trying to be savvy and spending less. For the first time this year, we had to start taking dues from members.”

Over the summer, representatives for the Miller Learning Center reviewed the policies and decided to charge for the use of event spaces. Though student groups meeting in classrooms at the MLC will not be charged for use of the spaces, four event spaces will be charged for University events such as departmental receptions and other social gatherings.

The Rotunda and Head Terrace are both $50 per event, North Tower is $20 per event and the Reading Room is $30 per event. Prior to the rate adjustments, use of those spaces were free for University-only events.

“When we looked at Tate, we realized that we would need to charge for events just as they do,” said Caroline Barratt, director of the MLC. “This recoups costs on our end, but also means we are less likely to become a more events-focused space just because we are free and Tate is not. We want to ensure that the MLC is primarily an academic space rather than an event space.”

Students can expect to see fees from the Registrar’s Office as well. Last year, there was a flat rate of $2 for students who wanted to order a transcript through OASIS or to request it and pick it up later at the Registrar’s Office. However, if students want to wait and pick up their transcript, the fee is now $5.

“We’ve never had a charge for waiting,” said registrar Rebecca Macon. “Because the number of people who wanted to wait increased and our staff decreased, we had to increase the fee by an extra $3.”

Macon said she isn’t sure what kind of effect this new rate will have on students, but she hopes it will encourage them to use OASIS to order transcripts.

“It’s handled very efficiently that way and we’re not having to take the time to load it, and then wait to load it at our office,” Macon said.

Macon said the fee is a direct effect of the recent budget cuts. Despite the new rate increase, she said the University still charges less than most other institutions.

“We have one of the lowest rates in the state, even in the country,” Macon said. “Most places already charge $5, $8 or $10, so it’s almost embarrassing that it’s so low here.”