CBFRC Summary: October 26, 2018

Present: Peter Dowe, Dawn Footer, Kathy Groves, Crystal Hallenbeck, Teresa Major, Karen Riotto, Craig Ross, Rongkun Shen, Jim Zollweg, and Melissa Wight

Regrets: Libby Caruso, Eileen Daniel, and Dillon Thompson

Announcements/Membership

The following announcements were made:

• Ms. Riotto stated we are still in need of an Undergraduate Student Representative for the
  committee. She will email Josh to follow-up on which student BSG has selected.
• Ms. Footer was introduced to the committee as a Graduate Student Representative. Ms.
  Riotto stated that the committee’s decision to add Ms. Footer as a voting member to the
  committee was agreed upon by Dr. Denise Copelton and Mr. Jim Wall, the Co-chairs of
  Joint Planning and Budget Committee. They agreed that anyone who sits on the committee
  should be a voting member.

2017/18 Open Items

Committee members discussed the following open items:

• In regards to the request for BSG to re-evaluate their fee criteria for fall 2019. Ms. Riotto
  and Ms. Footer had a meeting regarding this request, the work the committee did in terms
  of this request on this last year, and the work that was done regarding the fee criteria in
  2010/2011. A meeting will be set up for Ms. Riotto, Ms. Footer, Ms. Caruso and Josh
  Mathews (BSG President) to continue to work through this request. Mr. Dowe and Ms.
  Major will supply data regarding billing and registration for analysis regarding the re-
  evaluation.
• The committee discussed the response from Advancement regarding the committee’s
  request for Advancement to re-evaluate the naming of the Alumni Fee, which is currently
  referred to as “A Gift to the Fund for Brockport”. Advancement stated after consideration
  the fee will remain called “A Gift to the Fund for Brockport - Optional”. The committee
  has determined that they will continue to look into this request. Ms. Major stated that she
  spoke with Mr. Andriatch regarding this request and offered a suggestion of including
  “student” and “scholarship” in the name to provide more of an insight into where the
  money goes. In addition, it could also be informative so that students became more aware
  of the scholarship opportunities on campus. Mr. Andriatch did listen to the suggestion but
  in the end, the decision was to keep the name the same. Ms. Riotto stated that with the next
  request, we need to be more direct as the initial one was open ended. The next request
  should include suggestions on what the new name could be and include the student and
  scholarship piece in the recommendation. In addition, Ms. Major stated that the staff in the
  Office of Student Accounts and Accounting receives numerous complaints and she would
  ask the staff to keep track of the number of complaints so that this data can be included in
  the next request.
• The committee will follow-up on the “Double Technology Fee” at a future meeting

Fall 2018

• Ms. Riotto referenced the updated SUNY Policy #7804 – Fees, Rentals and Other Charges and stated that Ms. Hallenbeck was informed that SUNY would be providing a template for the requested fee registry. This is to ensure all student charges are appropriately approved. Failure to submit the registry by the end of the fiscal year will disqualify the campus from requesting any fee submissions until the requested information is provided.
• Members discussed the 2019 Fee-Based Budget Call Letter and presentations. The following items were discussed:
  • Members stated they would like to see more data regarding the expenses the departments
    have that these fees assist in paying. In addition, members would like the department to
    show what happens to services if they do not get an increase.
  • Ms. Hallenbeck suggested adding future planning as SUNY has indicated a request for fees two years in the future.
  • Ms. Major indicated that the presentation to students is very important and members
    discussed possibilities in changing the time of the presentation. Historically, the
    presentations feel rushed due to the time crunch to be done before the start of the BSG
    meeting.
  • Ms. Riotto indicated that the letter should be sent to the fee managers next month. Ms.
    Hallenbeck and Ms. Riotto will work on updating the Call Letter for review at a future
    meeting.
  • Ms. Footer indicated that she might make attending the fee forum an incentive for her club budgets.
  • Ms. Major suggested sending out information regarding the fee forum on the student list
    serv.
  • Ms. Riotto reminded members that the fee presentations are on Thursday, February 21,
    2018, and the committee will meet on Friday, February 22, 2018, to vote on the presented budgets.
• Members  discussed the Credit-By Exam fee and the next steps in the review of this fee. The following items were discussed:
  • Ms. Riotto indicated that 50% of the fee is submitted to SUNY towards our Revenue
    Target and the other 50% is deposited into College Reserves.
  • Mr. Dowe indicated that there is a discrepancy with the revenue received and number of
    Credit-By-Exam awards within the RN to BSN program. For further investigation, a
    meeting will be scheduled with Ms. Riotto, Mr. Dowe, Ms. Major and Dr. Peterson.
  • Mr. Dowe will provide members the information regarding what other schools are
    charging to review before the next meeting.
  • The basis of our request for a fee increase would be the time and effort on multiple
    departments to administer the functions involved in this fee.
  • Ms. Major suggested the possibility of making the fee variable due to the complexity of the exam that is administered. Ms. Riotto stated she would contact SUNY to see if other
    institutions have examined having a variable Credit-By-Exam fee.
• Members discussed how to manage making the Commencement Fee voluntary per the updated SUNY Policy. The following items were discussed regarding obtaining funds to cover the cost of the ceremony and options for the voluntary fee:
  • Ms. Major provided cons for an opt-out fee:
    • Additional work for IT
    • Students/Parents will feel like we are hiding the fee as they do regarding the Alumni Fee
    • Students/Parents have already paid tuition and housing they feel they should not have to pay towards the ceremony.
  • Ms. Major provided cons for an opt-in fee
    • Additional work for IT
    • Students/Parents have already paid tuition and housing; they feel they should not have to pay towards the ceremony. Therefore, there would not be many students opting into the fee. 
  • Dr. Zollweg suggested charging for tickets to help cover the ceremony expenses.
    Members discussed that this too would have a negative impact as students/parents have
    paid for tuition and housing and they do not feel they should have to pay for the ceremony. In addition, there would be extra cost to develop the infrastructure to develop the system to charge for tickets.
  • Ms. Major suggested working with Advancement and building in an extra $5 a semester to the Alumni Fee to help with ceremony expenses. If you determine the $5 based on the
    traditional 8 semesters of college, we would obtain the $40 fee that we have been charging. It would also need to be clearing stated that a portion of the Alumni Fee goes towards the cost of the ceremony in the fee description. This option would fulfil the new voluntary commencement fee requirement, as the Alumni Fee is an optional fee.
  • Due to time constraints, the Commencement Fee discussion will continue at our next
    meeting.
• Recommendations for the Commencement Fee and Credit-By-Exam Fee need to be submitted to Cabinet by the end of this term. 

Next Meeting: November 16, 2018, 8:30 - 9:15am

KR/JZ/mw

Campus Based Fee Review Committee Action Plan List

Committee Members: Libby Caruso/Eileen Daniel/Peter Dowe/Kathy Groves/Crystal Hallenbeck/Teresa Major/Kathy Peterson/Karen Riotto/Dillon Thompson