CBFRC Summary: February 6, 2018

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

Regrets: Chantelle Nasri

Guests: Libby Caruso & Sabrina Smith

• Karen stated that Teresa has developed the fee analysis template. Karen and Melissa with be adding information to the template and will present it to the committee for approval at a later meeting.
• Discussion regarding the Credit-By-Exam fee:
  
  • It has been difficult to find information on other schools websites.
  • Peter will put out a request for this information on the Registrar listserv.
  • Another option discussed for the amount charged for the fee, would be to charge a flat rate “administering fee” ($20) and then another fee if the student passes the exam as an “awarding fee”. The “awarding fee” could be based on a rate per credit hour.
• Karen stated the committee’s fall report was reviewed by President’s Cabinet. The Cabinet did have some follow-up questions regarding the report. Karen has provided Lou with the answers and he will present them to Cabinet. Cabinet is also reviewing alternatives in terms of how to balance if revenue is lost within a fee. Karen will be presenting the fall report to the Joint Planning and Budgeting Committee on 2/15/18.
• This week’s meeting focused on the possibility of a Voluntary Health Fee. Libby Caruso presented information from SUNY Plattsburgh (where this has been implemented); Brockport’s projected numbers and answered questions from committee members. The following points were discussed:
  
  • It was proposed to be called a “charge” and not a fee.
  • This has been implemented at SUNY Plattsburgh and is in addition to the Health Fee.
  • The charge would be $25 a semester.
  • This would be an opt-in charge.
  • The charge would provide students that ability to obtain prescriptions from the Health Center that they can provide without being a legal pharmacy.
  • Currently about half of the enrolled students receive care from Hazen in a given year.
  • At SUNY Plattsburgh, almost all of the freshman students elected this option and most of the returning students that were seen at the Health Center elected this option after they needed the care.
  • The details that need to be worked out is if this charge can be done through the Health Center’s EMR or through Banner.
  • A student that does not elect this option would still be provided needed medical supplies like a Nebulizer, crutches, etc.
  • The self-care station would remain at the Health Center as this helps prevent the appointments where a student just needs over the counter supplies.
  • Counseling and Psychiatric needs are not included in this charge. That will still be provided and any medications prescribed from these sessions would have to go through a pharmacy.
  • If half of the students who utilize the Health Center opted in for this charge, the estimated revenue would be around $100,000 a year. Last week, Plattsburgh stated their revenue was around $109,000 but their charge is an “opt-out” election.
  • This charge would exclude controlled substances.
  • In addition to the medications that the Health Center currently provides, with the implementation of this charge, the Health Center would also like to include emergency contraceptives.
  • Right now, the Health Center has been covering the cost of all of the medications it provides. This charge would allow the Health Center to cover those costs with the revenue from this charge and help with their current deficit.
  • Some members feel that this charge may transition positively as the printing charge did.
  • It is believed that a charge that is at the discretion of the student does not need to be approved by SUNY. We need to be mindful of the mechanism that this is charged and limitations with Title IV.
  • Title IV funding does not cover optional fees unless the student completes a Title IV
    authorization.
  • Members discussed the possibility of creating a “workflow” for when a student was at the Health Center and decided they would like to opt into the Voluntary Health charge. The process could be that they have to go to the computer to elect the charge but if they have not completed the Title IV Authorization, a mechanism would be set in place for them to complete the authorization before they could opt into the charge.
  • Members did acknowledge concerns that there are staffing limitations in LITS that could pose a problem at getting this workflow completed in a timely manner. This could be addressed as a concern within the recommendation from this committee to the Joint Planning and Budgeting Committee.
  • The committee agreed that the next step would be to develop a proposal for this fee. It was decided that Karen Riotto and Libby Caruso would draft this proposal with consultation from Sandy Almekinder and Laura Coriddi for the LITS portion.
  • It was suggested that if this charge is approved, that a letter be sent to all students explaining what the standard health fee will cover and what this optional charge will and will not cover.
  • Another suggestion was to include this charge in the Health Fee presentation as a charge that is currently being explored.
  • It was decided that the $25 charge for the fall semester would cover the student for the fall and winter term. There would be a separate $25 charge for the spring and another $25 charge for the summer if the student chose to opt in for those sessions.
  • Teresa asked if this charge would eliminate the request for an increase in the Student Health fee. Libby stated that it would not eliminate it, but could decrease the amount requested.
  • If approved, this fee would not go into effect until fall 2018 or fall 2019.
• Items for Next Meeting
  • Fee template

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