When students head to the polls to elect new student leadership in about two weeks, they could also be asked whether students should pay extra for a greener campus and whether student fees should continue funding the Maryland Public Interest Research Group.

Student Government Association President Emma Simson said SGA members are working on a plan that would gradually charge students a total of $12 a semester by 2012 to help convert the university to technology that burns clean fuel. If the referendum question is approved, the fee, which would be added on to student’s tuition, will be phased in over five years. Fees could increase by $4 the first semester, then $1 each semester thereafter.

Both referendums are non-binding and are used to gauge student opinion, Academic Legislator Tad Greenleaf said. The question also needs to be introduced and approved by the legislature in order for it to appear on the ballot.

“The University of Maryland has said that it would like to be at the forefront of environmentastandards,” said Simson. “I think students ought to be considering how they use energy on campus.”

Even if such a referendum were to pass, implementing the additional fee would still have hurdles to clear because the increase would require approval by the University System of Maryland’s governing body, the Board of Regents.

Simson said any fee increase needs student input, so the SGA will not pursue increases that large without approval.

“I would hope to see the referendum passed … but it will be interesting to see how the majority of students feel about this,” Simson said. “This is an issue where I’d want to see a large number of students responding.”

A second referendum likely to be attached to the ballot will ask students whether they want to continue funding MarylandPIRG’s university chapter. The organization, which advocates on behalf of tuition, textbooks and environmental issues, receives $43,413 from the SGA.

“The reason we do the referendum is to make sure the students still want MaryPIRG on campus,” said MaryPIRG Campus Coordinator Colleen Spivey.

Much of MaryPIRG’s budget goes toward paying MaryPIRG staffers’ salaries. Spivey earns $23,681 from the SGA and $19,732 pays for the salary and health benefits for MaryPIRG’s state director, according to SGA legislation which would place the referendum on the ballot when passed.

Spivey said that MaryPIRG provides an important service on the campus worthy to be included in the $64 that each student pays in his or her student fees each semester.

“MaryPIRG’s mission is to engage students on issues that are important to them,” Spivey said.

Contact reporter Nathan Cohen at cohendbk@gmail.com.