Present: Eileen Daniel, Peter Dowe, Crystal Hallenbeck, Michael Harrison, Riley Johnson, Rachael Killion, Susan Lowey, Teresa Major, Karen Riotto – Co-chair, Rongkun Shen and Melissa Wight
Regrets: Lorraine Acker, Cathy Houston-Wilson – Co-chair, Meaghan Irving and Lisa Robusto-Mack
Welcome and Announcements
- Riley Johnson was introduced to the committee.
- Dr. Crystal Hallenbeck will be serving as the Interim Assistant Vice President for Finance and Management, and she will assume the co-chair position for the committee.
- Rachael Killion will be serving as the Interim Director of Budgeting and will no longer be staff to the committee. She will be a formal member.
- The meeting summary from our last meeting was distributed with the agenda.
Updates to the Committee
ESC 477 Storm Chasing Course Fee
- Dean Maliekal met with Provost Abraham regarding the possibility of offering the course this summer. Provost Abraham was supportive based on the safety plan and the opportunities this elective course may provide to our students.
- The next step is for Provost Abraham to bring this course request to Cabinet to determine if Cabinet is supportive of offering this course before we continue the process of creating a course fee request to SUNY. If the course is supported by Cabinet, the next steps will be to develop the course fee and work with SUNY Counsel regarding any concerns related to the course.
Pending Fee Proposal: Department of Theatre & Music Studies
- There was a request from Davida Bloom and Natalie Sarrazin from the Department of Theatre & Music Studies regarding the process for requesting to assess a fee. It appears to potentially be a broad-based fee that they want to assess to all students that will allow students to have access to all of the Theatre programs throughout the year. The proposal has not been developed and the next potential meeting that they could present at would be 2/17/23.
SUNY’s Broad Based Fee Proposal
- SUNY continues to evaluate how to revamp the process for broad based fee increases. They are looking to change the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) and find a new index to determine by how much fees may increase. Also, they are looking to create the ability for campuses to increase fees based on the new index without having to go through a formal approval by SUNY. For example, if a campus stays within the criteria, they can increase their fees by a certain percentage. Also, there will be the ability to request to go above the set percentage with appropriate documentation and justification. The percentage that campuses are allotted can change from year to year. In addition, they are looking to move away from having individual fees and instead, allowing campuses to have a comprehensive fee that includes all the previous individual fees. The campus would then allocate the fees collected to the broad-based fee departments. There will still need to be a formal process through which, proposed budgets and increases are presented. We will have to evidence campus education and feedback from students, faculty and staff.
- Items that need to be reviewed are:
- Does the College fee remain separate from the proposed comprehensive fee?
- With the Alumni Fee becoming a broad-based fee and added to the comprehensive fee, will students still be able to opt out of that portion of the fee?
- A process will need to be in place regarding if a student requests a waiver from the fee.
Discussion and Planning
Finalize 2023 Fee Based Budget Presentation Call Letter
- We are requesting that the student fee forum occur prior to the JPBC presentations. We have not heard back from the correspondence that was sent to BSG leadership. Another follow-up email will be sent today.
- The goal is to send the letter out to fee managers before shutdown.
2023-24 Course Fee Requests Process and Approval
- The MachForm has been finalized.
- The recommendation is to send out the letter prior to shutdown due to needing an earlier deadline for the Summer 2023 fees. Approximate deadline for the summer fees will be February 1, so that the committee can review the requests at the February 3 meeting. The approximate deadline for fall and spring fees would be March 1 and the requests would be reviewed at the March 31 meeting.
Other Items from the Committee
- Mr. Dowe presented a proposal for an increase in the fee for replacement diplomas. The fee has remained at $15 for the past 30 plus years. The production of diplomas was outsourced this summer. The cost between the vendor and services by Registration & Records would be around $19.71. Factoring in the overhead charges on the IFR account, the cost would be close to $25. Reviewing what other SUNY campuses are charging, most are charging $20-$30 range. The committee agreed the fee should increase to $25. Cabinet will need to approve the increase in order for the fee to formally change.
- Our next meeting will be February 2, 2023. The meeting previously scheduled for January 27, 2023, will be cancelled.
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