Policy
Special Class Fees,
Non-class Fees and Deposits
Effective
Fall Semester, 2001
1.01 General Policy Statement
Establishment and collection of fees and deposits shall be in accord with ABOR Policies 4-101, 4-102, 4-103, 4-104, and 4-105.
1.02 Approval Authority
Requests for approval of special fees imposed for specific classes and in all other spheres not otherwise provided for under Arizona Board of Regents or University policy shall be reviewed by a single University Fees Committee, reporting to and appointed by the Provost. This committee shall have appropriate administrative, faculty, undergraduate, and graduate student representation. Its recommendations for decisions shall be made to the Provost.
Approvals and denials for new or revised fees and /or deposits shall be communicated in writing to the requesting unit by the Provost or his designee.
2.01 Special Class Fees and Deposits Policy
The usual costs of education at The University of Arizona are expected to be funded through the instructional budget and other institutional resources. Students contribute to instructional costs through regular tuition and registration fees. Thus, special course fees are rarely justified.
Under limited circumstances defined by the Arizona Board of Regents' policy on "Special Class Fees and Deposits" (Chapter 4, Section 105, Paragraphs A through E, adopted January 6, 1989, rev. 9/1/00), special class fees and deposits may be assessed. These guidelines may be viewed on the Arizona Board of Regents website.
Any special class fee or deposit must be approved by the Provost (those greater than $100 must be approved by the Arizona Board of Regents), and must be published on all media used as part of the semester's Schedule of Classes and/or General Catalog both on-line and bound copies. Fees under $10 will not be considered by the University Fees Committee. Approved fees and deposits must be collected through the Bursar's Office and in no circumstance should such fees or deposits be collected directly from students by faculty members or academic departments. Approved fees and deposits including fund balances will be reviewed every other year to determine ongoing need for the fee. Accounting reports reflecting revenues and expenditures must be prepared annually for each course charging a special fee. Reports are due to the Committee no later than May 30. For those units collecting fees for field camps the deadline is September 30.
Increases to existing special class fees and deposits where the proposed additional fee or deposit totals more than $100 shall also be submitted for approval at the Arizona Board of Regents annual fees setting meeting in March with implementation no earlier that the following spring semester.
If concurrent registration is required between a lecture and a laboratory, the combined amount of new special class fees for the lecture/laboratory cannot be more than $100 without Board approval. If an increase to the special class fees of such required concurrent registration lecture/laboratory totals more than $100, Board approval of the increase is required before implementation.
2.02 Conditions
1. Special class fees and deposits may be imposed only under the following conditions:
a. Off-campus field trips or specialized equipment/facilities
- travel costs
- fees to off-campus educational facilities
- rental or use of specialized equipment
- rental or use fees where usage fee is normally charged
b. Private instruction
- applicable only in special area of study, such as music performance
c. Expendable materials
- materials of a specialized nature
- materials that can be purchased by department in large quantities at significant cost savings to students
- materials that must conform to certain specifications
- expensive materials needed by each student in small quantities
- ABOR Policy Manual chapter entitled 'Bidding and Source Selection Procedures and State Bidding and Source Selection Procedures should be adhered to.
d. Technology Expense Fees
- Technology expenses must be course-specific, beyond the normally-expected basic services considered standard at the centrally-maintained open access campus laboratories and/or for courses requiring specialized equipment or software beyond the current basic service level. Basic service level will be reviewed annually by the Office of Vice Provost for Educational Technology.
e. Models
- Models hired for art classes and for clinical practice classes.
f. Deposits
- for equipment or apparatus temporarily entrusted to students' care
- deposits must be fully refundable upon return, in satisfactory condition, of such equipment or apparatus
2. Special class fees must be set at an amount no higher than necessary to cover the on-going costs of the approved activities. Special class fees account balances are permissible under the following conditions:
a. An operating reserve of no more than 20% is allowable. The operating reserve is calculated on the annual fees collected for the prior year as of June 30 of each year.
Any surplus in excess of the 20% limit must be justified by the academic units and approved by the University Fees Committee. The following questions must be thoroughly addressed:
- Why are there balances in excess of the allowable amount?
- Are there spending cycles that result in excess balances as of June 30?
- What are the immediate plans for expending balances to within the allowable limit?
b. If special class fees account balances exceed the approved limit, the fees must be adjusted prospectively. Fees for following years may be eliminated, reduced, or deferred for a period of time to bring balances to within appropriate levels.
Given that fees must be established in advance for publication in the Schedule of Classes and/or General Catalog, the timing for adjustments will be determined by the University Fees Committee.
c. If a fee is discontinued and there are reserves in the account, the funds shall be deposited into the UA Retained Fees Account for student need-based financial aid.
(Policy 2.02.2a.-2c added Dec. 16, 1997)
3.01 Non-Class Fees and Non-refundable Deposits Policy
There is a standing presumption against the imposition of special non-class fees for students, since such fees tend to reduce broad accessibility to The University of Arizona, and to render more cumbersome the application and financial aid processes for students. However, special fees and
deposits may be approved on occasion when demonstrably necessary to maintain the operation and quality of a program, or to provide students or other users of University services with specially enhanced opportunities that would otherwise not be possible. Fees should not be assessed to cover costs that should normally be covered by the University's regular budgeted funds.
3.02 Conditions
Non-course fees and non-refundable deposits may be imposed only as specified under the following conditions:
1. Costs of an operation/process
- A fee charged to defray costs of an operation within a unit (e.g., the admissions process in an academic unit) must be set at an amount no higher than necessary to cover the costs of that operation, narrowly construed. Auxiliary units may be exempted from this requirement.
2. Elicit choices
- A fee may be charged if it is the only or the overridingly superior way to elicit desirable choices or conduct on the part of students or other users of University services.
3. Similar fees at peer institutions
- Approval decisions of any fee may take into account the imposition of similar fees at peer institutions within the state and nationally.
4. Limitations
- Fees charged at the department level are to be avoided.
3.03 Notification
Approved non-course fees and non-refundable deposits must be printed in publicly available documents.
4.01 Collection of Special Class Fees, Non-class Fees and Deposits
Special class fees, non-class fees and deposits must be collected through the Bursar's Office. Under unique circumstances, payment may be made directly to a non-university operator or instructional facility. Disclosure of non-university recipient of fees should be specified as part of the initial fee approval. In no circumstance, should such fees be collected directly from students by faculty members or departments. Fees collected by the Bursar's Office shall be distributed to local departmental accounts, where it will be the department's responsibility to maintain accurate records of funds collected and expended.
5.01 Refunds of Special Class Fees, Non-Class Fees and Deposits
Special class fees, non-class fees and refundable deposits are refundable in accordance with published University refund policies.
6.01 Request Procedures
All requests for special fees, non-class fees and deposits must be submitted in writing on a University Fees request form to the University Fees Committee. The request must include the following information: justification or purpose of the fee or deposit, specific costs to be covered, per user amount requested, the University account where the revenue and related expenses will be recorded. The form may be obtained online at http://www.registrar.arizona.edu/courseapproval/formlink/blforms.html
Any questions should be directed to the administrative contact for the University Fees Committee at 626-4099 or bmarti@email.arizona.edu.
Proposed fees must be approved by the provost prior to the deadline for inclusion in the various schedules of classes and/or other publications. Approvals after the registrar's deadlines for the current semester will take effect the next semester or session the course is offered.
6.02 Request Deadlines
Deadlines for submission of special class fee requests to the University Fees Committee are available online.
7.01 Master List
The University, through the Curriculum & Registration Office, will maintain a master list of all special class fees, non-class fees and deposits. This list will be published in the various schedules of classes, the General Catalog and other documents as appropriate.
The University of
Arizona
University Fees Committee; http://universityfees.arizona.edu/
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