The Faculty Council voted at its meeting yesterday to recommend that the Faculty raise the Undergraduate Council's optional term-bill fee to $35 from its current level of $20, a move that would overturn the results of a student-wide referendum held last year.

The Faculty Council also voted to recommend that the Faculty give the dean of the College the responsibility to make future adjustments to the level of the fee.

Both recommendations, which are non-binding, must gain final approval from the Faculty as a whole before implementation.

Prior to the Faculty's meeting, the Undergraduate Council voted overwhelmingly to support such a measure.

"Twenty dollars today is not the same as it was in 1988, the last time the fee was raised. So the increase basically compensates for inflation and for the increase in student activities," said Undergraduate Council President Paul A. Gusmorino '02.

The Undergraduate Council has been in consultation with Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 about the term bill for the past several months.

In Dec. 1999, the Harvard student body voted to reject increasing the term-bill fee from $20 to $50, a move long supported by members of the Undergraduate Council.

When the Faculty first created the Undergraduate Council in 1981, the inclusion of the optional term-bill addition sparked controversy, resulting in Faculty members deciding to retain power over increases, said John B. Fox '59, secretary to the Faculty.