Present: Lorraine Acker, Eileen Daniel, Michael Harrison, Crystal Hallenbeck-McPhall – Co-chair, Seth Johnston, Rachael Killion, Susan Lowey, Teresa Major, Nicole Parkison, Rongkun Shen
Regrets: Qudus Bawa-Allah, Logan Rath, Lisa Robusto-Mack
Guest: N/A
Welcome and Introductions
Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall reminded the Committee of JPBC fee presentations on March 27th, from 8:00am to 10:30am. BSG fee presentations are scheduled for March 28th, starting at 4:00pm. She encouraged Committee attendance at one of these meetings, so that informed decisions can be made when voting to endorse or not endorse Broad-Based Fee requests at the April 4th meeting. BSG, BASC, and DIFR will present on April 24th. Attendance was also encouraged at that meeting.
February 7, 2025, Meeting Summary
Members were asked to review the meeting summary from the February 7, 2025, meeting. Any comments, edits or suggestions should be sent to Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall by March 14, 2025.
Updates to the Committee
- JPBC – Broad-Based Fee Working Group – Materials regarding this group have been shared. These materials include a formal charge to the Working Group. This was created in an effort to define membership and scope of work for this group.
- A decision has been made to focus most of this group’s efforts on benchmarking against other SUNYs. Data derived from this exercise will be analyzed by the Working Group and recommendations will be made. Recommendations could lead to other projects, for which Broad-Based fee managers may be brought in. Relevant data will also be shared with CBFRC.
- The Committee was given the opportunity to review the questionnaire to be used in the benchmarking exercise. The following feedback was given:
- Dr. Lowey suggested asking about fees assessed to online students and how each campus defines an online student.
- Ms. Major requested that the question related to assessing a comprehensive fee be expanded to ask if additional individual fees are assessed, as not all fees are allowed to be part of the comprehensive fee.
- Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall will incorporate the suggested changes, along with any changes proposed by the Working Group.
- BSG – Seeking a Fee Increase – BSG leadership has expressed interest in increasing their Student Activity fee. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall has requested they provide formal request materials to the CBFRC by the April 4th meeting. This would position them with appropriate support and vetting prior to their budget presentation to JPBC on April 24th.
- Broad-Based Fee for the Arts – There has been interest expressed again to assess a Broad-Based Fee for the Arts. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall is unsure what this will look like yet, but has reached out to the requestor and provided guidance about how to submit this request/proposal to the CBFRC.
Course Fee Financial Hardship Waiver
Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall shared the proposed changes to the Course Fee Financial Hardship Waiver application. Each suggested change has been updated within the MachForm. Once all changes are final, it will be requested that the link to the form be moved from the Registration & Records website to Financial Aid’s website. Changes included the following:
- The introductory paragraph was updated. The official University policy was linked here and Bursar’s Office was updated to Student Accounts and Accounting Office.
- Many of the questions were reformatted, and logic was built it. For example, if they respond “yes,” the form allows them to move on. If they respond “no,” they are told not to continue, as they do not qualify at this time.(This was shown to the Committee.)
- An attestation box was added, reaffirming that reported information is accurate.
Mr. Johnston requested that when the form is officially moved he be looped in, so he can notify staff. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall agreed and reported there may be other places that will require update and communication out to relevant parties.
Ms. Major questioned having Student Accounts and Accounting listed in the introductory paragraph and felt this should instead be Financial Aid. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall agreed, and her and Ms. Major will have a conversation with Dr. Willis. **This has occurred, and the form has been updated to Financial Aid.
The Committee agreed with all changes made to the form. Once the introductory information is confirmed, Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall will coordinate the movement of the form link.
International Insurance – Fee/Account Revenue
The International Insurance account caught the Committee’s attention due to its large cash balance. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall and Ms. Killion met with Mr. Davis to discuss. It was explained that some of the large balance is due to past due bills; one from a prior fiscal year and one from the current fiscal year. After paying these two bills, the balance will be brought into a reasonable range. An excess balance is expected because SUNY sets the rates that are charged. The SUNY International Insurance fee chart was shared with CBFRC and the different categories listed were explained. These rates include an administrative fee that the University collects. These collected revenues are not currently used to support administrative fees locally, so have built up over time within the account. (The SUTRA operating account is used to support this function and its related cost.) This process is being discussed and changes may occur if needed in the future. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall supported that the Committee continue to keep an eye on this account.
Mr. Harrison asked about the past due bills and if this would be an annual problem. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall explained that it is not anticipated this would be a reoccurring problem. There was a unique coding issue with the contract, which is being worked through by the Procurement & Payment Services team and SUNY. This is not expected to be a problem moving forward.
In summary, it was determined that because revenues are generated through a predetermined fee, we cannot change what is assessed to students. What we can control are the expenditures charged to this account. Both the Global Education department and the CBFRC will monitor this account routinely to determine if future change is necessary.
Current University Fee Policy – Review
As part of the CBFRC charge, we must review and recommend revisions to the Campus Policy on the Assessment of Campus-Based Fees. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall conducted a preliminary review of this document and noted the following needed changes:
- Committee name update (document states “Campus-Based Fee Committee,” official name “Campus-Based Fee Review Committee”)
- Adding the definition of Broad-Based Fees (from SUNY policy)
- Career Service fee – move back to Broad-Based Fee category
- Update the name of the Alumni fee (now A Gift to the Fund for Brockport)
- Note “biennial” by the University Open Fee Forum bullet (2.b.)
- Add budgetary information to the data the Committee uses to deliberate
- Ms. Major suggested detailing this to include future expenditures.
- Repetitive “new” in section number three – “the fee committee will accept new proposals for new Broad-Based Fees.” Suggest removing the first “new.”
Ms. Major added that the University fee should be the College fee, per SUNY policy. She also noted that the Parking fee should likely not be listed as a local fee. If we list this fee, then why not list all other local fees such as Library fees? The Committee agreed with these recommendations.
Dr. Acker suggested that the Broad-Based Fee Working Group from JPBC also review this policy. They may have recommendations as well, especially after they complete the benchmarking exercise.
Mr. Johnston asked how we receive and distribute the data related to the line “summaries of the most frequent comments from students, parents about the assessment of fees.” Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall responded that this information is collected through a feedback form provided after the student fee forums. If anything relevant is collected on any of the fees, it is shared with the fee managers.
Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall tasked the Committee with providing her further feedback on this policy by next week. With all feedback, she will make the necessary updates and share the document with the JPBC Working Group for their comment.
CBRFC Membership Roster Review
Looking back through history to the creation of CBFRC, there seems to be an overall charge to the group, but no specific roster of membership. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall assumes that members were selected based on their expertise and involvement with student fees. There are no terms or rotating seats on the Committee currently, and many members have been part of this group since inception. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall wanted to bring this to the Committee’s attention and open discussion to whether a change should be made.
Dr. Acker advocated for membership to be tied to a position and a designee versus solely just the position. If the listed person cannot attend, the delegate could step in. It would also help to not list individual names, as employees change roles, retire, etc. Perhaps it should be a department listed versus a specific role? She is also open to rotation on the Committee, but recognizes that the goal is to have individuals with knowledge of the Broad-Based Fees involved.
Ms. Parkison commented that it would be hard to have a delegate in the student positions. She suggested working with the Graduate Studies Office to gauge interest, which could help implement this suggestion. Mr. Harrison spoke about their process for finding a graduate representative. As soon as his office is aware of the need, they send communication out to all graduate students on campus, which historically has worked in finding a representative. He believes that hosting these meetings virtually has assisted in this, as a lot of the graduate population is not necessarily on campus. Difficulty in finding a graduate representative may occur at times because most graduate students are taking class at night or online, so they can fulfill other daytime obligations. GA/TA’s are often interested though and able to fill this role when there have been difficulties.
The Committee felt comfortable with listing roster membership using title or designee.
Mr. Harrison re-introduced the topic of how each member was appointed for the Committee. He thought that certain roles were attributed to membership on other committees (i.e. University Senate) or location (i.e. Brockport Downtown). Ms. Major found an old email trail of when the former AVP for Finance & Management formed the initial group. It appears that membership was determined by either being in an area who oversees Broad-Based fees or supervising one of these areas.
Faculty Representation was discussed next. Mr. Shen was asked about his appointment to the Committee. From his recollection it was someone reaching out to his department (or to his Dean) and him volunteering to fill the need. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall added that perhaps the sciences were looked to for membership because of their use of course fees. She then inquired about the changing Academic Affairs structure and if this needed to be taken into consideration when determining membership changes. The Committee did not see this as a reason to add membership to the Committee. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall then posed the question of rotating faculty seats, similar to how JPBC is structured. This was a favored approach by the Committee. Term of membership was then discussed. Dr. Lowey suggested that any member should be involved with the Committee for at least three years, to give them time to learn about fees and acclimate to the processes. Dr. Acker suggested we mirror the membership terms of JPBC. Ms. Parker suggested implementing succession planning, especially for student roles. Dr. Acker commented that the CBFRC responsibility is built into the BSG Officer’s role. It is not defined which BSG position is to serve because flexibility is needed due to the varies responsibilities the students hold. It was decided that for the UG Student representative “representative from BSG” would be added to the official roster list.
Lastly, staff roles were discussed. The Brockport Downtown role was vetted. There was a general feeling that this role on the Committee was defined by location versus connection to fees and fees assessed to Brockport Downtown students are the same as on-campus students. Many of the programs located at Brockport Downtown are graduate level (ex. MSW). Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall added that her understanding of this role on the Committee was one of transparency and communication. This role was to share information with students who were attending courses at Brockport Downtown. Mr. Harrison added that currently, social work is the only program fully located there. Most other programs that were formerly housed there have shifted to an online format. Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall asked the group if it wanted to remove the Brockport Downtown role from membership and it was agreed that yes, since the dynamic of program offering has changed, this would be appropriate.
Summary of membership changes to begin in fiscal year 2025-26,
- Generalize positions by title and add designee options.
- Add a rotation schedule to the faculty rep role.
- Add a parenthesis by the UG Student role, stating “representative from BSG.”
- Remove the Brockport Downtown representative.
Next Meeting
- Broad-Based Fee discussion & Vote
- Fall/Spring Course Fee Requests – Review & Vote
- Annual Report – Review?
Other Items from the Committee
None at this time.
Campus Based Fee Review Committee Action plan List
Committee Members: Lorraine Acker/Qudus Bawa-Allah/Eileen Daniel/ Crystal Hallenbeck-McPhall/Michael Harrison/Seth Johnston/Rachael Killion/Susan Lowey/Teresa Major/Nicole Parkison/Logan Rath/Lisa Robusto-Mack/Rongkun Shen
Committee Roster
| Action | Responsible | Status | Deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Put a call out to GA/Tas for Graduate Student representative. | Mr. Harrison | Completed | N/A | N/A |
| Request BSG Treasurer to attend as Undergraduate Student representative | Dr. Acker | Completed | N/A | N/A |
ID Replacement Fee
| Action | Responsible | Status | Deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Follow up with Ms. Frosini and obtain more data. | Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall | Completed | N/A | N/A |
Nursing Course Fee Review
| Action | Responsible | Status | Deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Review Nursing course fees | All | Completed | N/A | N/A |
2023-24 Annual Report
| Action | Responsible | Status | Deadline | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create the 2023-24 Annual Report | Dr. Hallenbeck-McPhall | Completed | N/A | N/A |