CBFRC Summary: January 30, 2018

Present:Priya Banerjee, Peter Dowe, Kathy Groves, Crystal Hallenbeck, Timothy Henry, Teresa Major, Kathleen Peterson, Karen Riotto, Dillon Thompson and Melissa Wight

Regrets: Eileen Daniel, Chantelle Nasri and Karey Pine

This week’s meeting focused on the Add/Drop fee, Late Registration Fee, Credit-By-Exam Fee, Commencement Fee, and possible Voluntary Health Fee. Below are the discussion points: 

Add/Drop Fee:

• Currently, we charge a student $20 once a semester if they add a course late and once if they drop from a course.
• It is believed that the SUNY policy states that these fees can be done per transaction, but we only charge it once a semester.
• A student is not charged a fee when they withdraw from a course because they have 100% tuition liability at that time.
• The revenue of this fee is split in half. 50% goes to the General Fund and the other 50% goes to Registration’s IFR.
• Some members feel increasing the frequency of the fee would significantly increase the complaints and could cause financial hardships on students.

Late Registration Fee

• Currently, the fee for Late Registration is $40.
• SUNY policy states that the Late Registration can only be charged once a semester for a maximum of $50.
• Students are charged this if they are not registered for any classes prior to the first day of classes.
• The revenue of this fee is split in half. 50% goes to the General Fund and the other 50% goes to Registration’s IFR.
• Members discussed the possibility of increasing the fee to $50 but determined the little revenue that would be earned would not justify the potential negative perspective from the students.

Credit-By-Exam Fee:

• The current fee for Credit-By-Exam is $20.
• This fee is charged when a student requests to take an exam to prove they already have the knowledge that is taught in a specific course and therefore do not need to take that course.
• SUNY policy regarding “Credit By evaluation” states that the fee should cover direct costs including fringe benefits, administering the evaluation and notification of results. Our fee does not cover these costs.
• A faculty member needs to design and administer the exam.
• A student has to complete a form and provide proof of payment before the exam is administered.
• If the student “passes” the exam (gets a “C” or higher), the credit hours earned are treated as transfer credits.
• Some members believe that this fee could be increased as there is a significant difference between the fee and what the student would pay per credit hour to take the course.
• The concern is if we increase it too much and the student fails the exam, the student then has to pay the tuition to take the course to receive credit.
• Many options for the amount to charge were mentioned, but the most agreeable option was to charge $20 a credit hour and possibly more for a graduate level course.
• The Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business would have to approve the change in fee.
• It was requested that we review what other schools currently charge for this fee.

Commencement Fee

• Currently, we charge a $40 Commencement Fee.
• The SUNY policy regarding the Commencement Fee is vague.
• About half of the SUNY colleges charge a commencement fee.
• Some of the revenue from this fee covers staging and sound expenses and part of the staff member’s salary in Registration is funded from it.
• Members would like to review what expenses this fee covers, as there are departments that have to cover staffing costs and are not reimbursed by this fee for those costs.
• A possibility would be to split the fee over the course of semesters, therefore paying the $40 over eight semesters. This could cause less revenue from transfer students but it could balance out by the students who start here and do not finish a degree. This may be viewed as less of a “punishment” as a student is charged this as the end of their time here. Unfortunately, there is not a clear way to analyze if this would financially work.
• Crystal stated that some of listed expenses are postage, print shop, university tickets, florist, BASC, golf carts and possibly part of the costs for the diploma covers.
• Members would like to review data on what other schools charge for a Commencement Fee.

Voluntary Health Fee

• This is has been brought up at different times by both Libby Caruso and Craig Ross.
• A student would elect to pay a fee each semester that would cover medical supplies and medication.
• This is something that SUNY Plattsburgh is currently doing and it is something the Health Center would like to pursue duplicating.
• If this fee is voluntary, it cannot be covered by Title IV funds. Therefore could cause problems if it is on the student bill.
• Questions that committee members have:
  
  • How does a student elect or opt out of this fee?
  • What does this fee cover?
  • What prescriptions does this fee cover?
  • How do we make it clear that this is not refundable?
  • How do we make it clear what the fee covers?
  • How long has this been implemented at Plattsburgh?
  • Is this sustainable?
• Members agreed that it would be beneficial to have Craig Ross and Libby Caruso present information on this fee.
• Questions occurred regarding if we have certification fees. It was determined that there is an additional $30 charged at the time of application for Teacher Certification. Members will try to determine if this is a required fee, where does the revenue go and what does it pay for. Crystal was asked to research the account that the revenue is placed into assist members with these questions.

Items for the Next Meeting

• Present fee template
• Libby Caruso and Craig Ross will be invited to present information regarding the Voluntary Health Fee

KMR/mw

Campus Based Fee Review Committee Action Plan List

Committee Members:  Priya Banerjee/Eileen Daniel/Peter Dowe/Kathy Groves/Crystal Hallenbeck/Timothy Henry/Teresa Major/Chantelle Nasri/Kathy Peterson/Karey Pine/Karen Riotto/Dillon Thompson/Craig Ross