Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Special Course Fees
Policy and Procedures (eff. Fall 2004)
Intent
Supplies and Equipment budgets are intended to cover the basic
requirements in all courses. Special course fees may be permitted in
course offerings where the University incurs continuing and significant
expenses for services or materials supplied directly to students, for
example, chemicals and beakers for science labs and ceramic supplies for
art studio courses.
Planning
Course fees are an integral part of budget
planning and are expected to be included in the budget presentations
that take place the year before course fee proposals are submitted.
Once a year the Office of Registration and Records will
send deans a list by department of all active courses that have been
approved for special course fees and the amount of the fee.
Requests
A request is initiated using the
Special Course Fee
Proposal form when a department believes that the level and
type of expense validates the need for such a fee. Cross-listed and
400/500 requests should be on one form; otherwise separate requests must
be submitted for each course.
Fees will be considered for only for courses that are active at the time
the request is submitted. It is preferred for fees to be established by
the course not credit hour; however, for variable credit courses the fee
may be linked to credit hour. Fees are not established by contact
hour. Fees must be in whole dollars rounded upwards and all sections of
a course shall levy the same fee in the same amount. Fees must be
approved by the Board of Trustees. Students may not be assessed special
course fees that have not been approved. All University and state
policies must be followed.
Student Notification/Refunds
The Office of Registration and Records will note the
existence of a course fee by the appropriate course on the Schedule of
Classes. If a special course fee proposal has been sent to Academic
Affairs and is in the review process, then the Schedule of Classes will
state that a course fee has been proposed. The fee will be assessed when
a student registers for a course that carries a special fee. Should a
student drop a course with a special fee, or completely withdraw from
the university while carrying courses with special fees, university
refund rates/policies will apply to special fees in the same manner as
they do academic fees/tuition.
Management of Fee Accounts
Expenditures shall be restricted to
those purposes identified in the department's approved fee request. The
balance of funds in each department's special course fee account shall
be reviewed by the dean and the Office of Academic Affairs at the end of
the fiscal year. As course fee allocations are made near the end of each
semester, funds sufficient to cover expenses the following semester may
accumulate in each account. Accumulation of significant fund balances
beyond this may prompt reduction of the course fee.
Departments will send a report by August 1 to the dean that details use
of fees for the preceding fiscal year. The dean will submit a summary
report to the Office of Academic Affairs showing the amounts used by
major categories. All existing course fees will be reviewed every five
years by the department and the dean and a recommendation for
continuation or termination submitted to the Provost and Vice President
for Academic Affairs.
Timeline
Requests for course fees generally are taken to the Board of
Trustees in February. The Special Course Fee Proposal form, signed by
the department representative, chairperson, Office of Registration and
Records, and dean must be received in the Office of Academic Affairs no
later than November 15 to have the possibility of being taken to the
February Board meeting. Allow at least two weeks for review in the
Office of Registration and Records. The dean’s signature signifies that
he or she has reviewed the department’s budget and determined that the
proposed fee is appropriate and necessary. If approved, the fee will
take effect the following fall semester. Fees will not be approved to go
into effect at a later date.