Academic fees established under CWUP 2-20-050 Establishment of Fees and Charges are defined as charges in addition to regular tuition assessed to all students in a course or activity. Academic fees are not intended to replace general operating funds. Funds collected for academic fees must be held in a project established only for that purpose, and administered by the academic unit responsible for overseeing the management of the course or activity.

CWUP 5-80-010 Criteria for Academic Fee Charges

Academic fees may be approved and implemented if they meet one of the criteria for charges.

(1) Criteria for State-Supported Courses - Fees may be charged sufficient to:

1. Cover costs related to the use of a facility that is required for a specific course or course experiences but is not a part of the university's facilities.
2. Cover costs for materials to produce a product or project that become the property of the student.
3. Cover costs for materials required for a specific course or course activity that cannot be reused.
4. Cover costs for materials required for a specific course or course requirements that can be provided for students at a lower costs to students through volume purchasing.
5. Cover costs for transportation for students on field trips required for a specific course or specific course experiences.

(2) Criteria for Self-Support Courses - Fees may be charged sufficient to promote and deliver the course, to contribute to unit overhead, and to meet other programmatic goals of the self-support unit.

(3) Criteria for Delivery of Self-Support Programs - Program fees may be charged sufficient to cover the direct cost of the program, including the following: (1) to cover the costs of promotion and delivery, (2) to contribute to the overhead of the unit, (3) to contribute to the contingency fund of the unit, (4) to build a fund to develop new programs, and (5) to meet the other programmatic goals of the unit.

(4) Criteria for Service Fees, Self-Support Functions - Service fees may be charged sufficient to cover the direct and indirect costs to the unit providing the service.

(5) Criteria for Fees as Penalties - Penalty fees may be charged sufficient to discourage unwanted behaviors that do not comply with the university policy and defray the costs that result from such behaviors.

[7/09]

CWUP 5-80-020 Purposes of Academic Course Fee

It is the intent that the monies collected for a given course fee will be expended on the course in question. Proceeds from course fees must only be used for the purposes specified in documentation completed to request creation of the fee for that particular course. Course fees are to be considered exceptions to standard budgeting procedures and implemented only when necessary. Extensive use of fees, either in number or in total cost, will be discouraged within a single department, especially if the courses with fees are required for the major. If at the end of the fiscal year a course fee project has a fund balance above 5% of the average for the revenue received during the last three years, a memorandum of explanation will be submitted by the department chair to the college dean and forwarded to the Office of the Provost. Deficits are not allowable in course fee projects. Appropriate uses of funds for state-supported courses are to cover the cost of:

1. Purchasing and maintaining equipment and software specific to the course.
2. Purchase of supplies that will be used to produce a product or project that become the property of the student.
3. Purchase of supplies that cannot be reused.
4. For occasional technical, safety, chemical hygiene, and lab/field assistant support.
5. Transportation directly related to the course.
6. Cost for using a facility required for the course that is not part of the university's facilities.
7. Purchasing materials that can be provided for students at a lower cost through volume purchasing.
8. Providing materials to a student who chooses to utilize additional resources above the standard resources provided to all students to complete course requirements or who chooses to upgrade the materials used to complete the requirements.
9. Private lessons in vocal or instrumental music.

[7/09]

[Back to the Top]