April 25, 2012
TO:
Members of the Board of Trustees
FROM:
Peter J. Nicholls
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Richard D. Gray
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
RE:
Fiscal Year 2013 New Institutional Fee for the University of
Connecticut, Storrs and Regional Campuses (Technology Fee)
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Board of Trustees approve a new Technology Fee (an Institutional Fee) for Fiscal Year
2013 for Storrs and Regional Campuses.
BACKGROUND:
The University has an established student fee review process that categorizes the fees as follows:
(1.) Institutional Fees, which require central administrative approval, such as Tuition, Room, Board,
Infrastructure Maintenance Fee and self-supporting programs; (2.) Academic Materials Fees, which
are for consumables and instructional materials that are specific to a particular course or major; and
(3.) Student Fees, which include the General University Fee and student activity and service fees.
Senior Management charged permanent committees with promoting a fee structure for the academic
and student fees that supports excellence, provides comprehensive procedures, and is uniform
without sacrificing efficiency and flexibility.
Institutional Fees are proposed by the University leadership as the budgets for these fees are largely
driven by what it takes to run the program. See attached summary proposal.
FY12
ACTUAL
$0
Technology Fee
Undergraduate Students
Graduate Students
(excluding Law and part-time School of Business) $0
Summer Sessions
(excluding Law and part-time School of Business) $0
Non-Degree Students
$0
FY13
PROPOSED
$60/semester
$40/semester
$25/summer
$25/semester
University of Connecticut (Storrs and Regional Campuses)
University Information Technology Services (UITS)
Proposed New Student Technology Fee
For Fiscal Year 2013
I.
PROPOSED Action
A. Description of Fee: In order to provide the level of technology support expected by today’s students, the following Student Technology Fee is proposed. This fee would be assessed to all
matriculated undergraduate and graduate students at all campuses (excluding the Health
Center) with some exceptions noted below. A fee would also be assessed to students taking
summer session classes. This proposal supports student needs for academic infrastructure
support and includes:
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A Microsoft Campus Agreement for students, which will provide licensing for the most
current Microsoft operating system and Office Suite; currently Windows 7 Enterprise,
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010, and Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac;
Develop the UConn vPC to provide a reliable computing platform for computer labs, in-class
computing, online and distance education and extends computer labs and access seamlessly
to branch campuses;
Wireless network upgrades in support of vPC;
A variety of technology and media-related library services; and
New innovative IT projects directly benefitting students.
B. Description of Recommended Revision: The University currently does not have a Student
Technology fee that covers all students regarding technology needs for the academic
experience. This fee includes technology used in the libraries as well as the classroom but does
not include the replacement costs of equipment for high tech classrooms
C. Basis of Requested Revision: The University Information Technology Services Division is
proposing to charge students a Technology Fee beginning in fall 2012. The current operating
budget for UITS does not support students’ technological needs. The tuition rate increase approved by the Board of Trustees in December supports a faculty hiring plan but does not
provide for expanding technology needs.
As the University has experienced reduced operating budgets related to infrastructure in recent
years, the demand for a reliable, strong wireless network and continuous access to technology
from anywhere at any time has only grown. Students are increasingly using mobile devices and
expect a strong wireless infrastructure to support their many and varied information technology
needs. In addition, each mobile device periodically demands a power source so that it can be
recharged. The installation of these outlets has created significant additional information
technology costs for the University.
D. Students Affected: This proposal covers the following students at the following rates:
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All matriculated undergraduate students on all campuses at $60 per semester. This equates
to a $120 per year fee or an increase of approximately .5% over the already approved
tuition and fee rates for a full-time in-state resident student for FY 2013.
All matriculated graduate students on all campuses at $40 per semester, based on a reduced
credit hour load from undergraduates.
Excludes Law School students who already pay a technology fee ($68 per semester) and
students in the part-time MBA program as they currently pay a comprehensive fee.
Includes undergraduate and graduate students at the regional campuses.
Includes all summer session students regardless of number of credit hours taken ($25 per
summer).
The fee will not be assessed to winter session or intersession students, based on the low
credit-hour load taken.
All non-degree seeking students taking classes in fall or spring semester will be charged a
$25 per semester fee.
For students enrolled in on-line classes, the structure of any additional on-line specific fee is
to be determined at a future date.
E. Proposed Date of Implementation: The proposed date for implementation is the fall 2012
semester.
II.
ANALYSIS
A. Fiscal Need for Fee Revision: UITS has determined that the following technology areas need
funding:
Library Technology
Contemporary academic libraries are based on information technology and media. Students
require connectivity, electrical outlets to recharge their mobile devices, shared technologyenabled workspaces, scanners, media labs, audio and video listening and viewing areas,
electronic course reserves, and electronic classrooms to achieve information literacy. Although
the UConn Libraries are heavily used by undergraduate students (approximately one million
visits a year), the University does not currently budget for library information technology needs
to serve students. In past years the Libraries received some funding from UCONN 2000/21st
Century UCONN that was used to upgrade technology and periodically the Libraries have
received varying amounts of one-time funding, but that is no longer the case.
Student IT Innovative Fund
Approximately 10% of the revenue from this fee will be allocated to new IT initiatives
recommended by a student governance group on behalf of all students at the Storrs and
regional campuses. The University will reconstitute the Student Technology Advisory Group
(STAG). This committee originally started in fall 2007 and has not formally met since fall 2008.
The original charge was to ensure student input into the decision making process for
information technology at the University of Connecticut and to foster awareness of student user
needs, give advice, and provide focus group feedback and insight. The charge to the committee
will change slightly to include allocating approximately 10% of the annual revenue generated by
this fee directly to student related IT needs.
Virtualized PC
For the past year, the Schools of Business, Engineering, and the UConn Libraries have
established a platform for providing virtual desktops to students. The UConn vPC platform
allows students to connect to customized virtual desktop environments for classes, general
purpose computer labs including specialized software packages, and special projects. The
environment allows students the choice to use any device to connect, from anywhere, anytime.
It also allows access to the virtual desktops from any location on any campus or around the
world, so students do not need to go to a physical lab. It also provides 24/7/365 access, so even
when physical computer labs are closed students can access the platforms, and do their class
work on their own schedule. The UConn vPC reduces students’ costs by reducing the burden of purchasing specialized course software for a number of classes and programs.
In addition, the system requires data storage space for students to access, store and collaborate
with their electronic data. This fee will help to purchase student storage space, on premise or in
the cloud for students use on an individual, classroom and ad-hoc basis.
Microsoft Office Suite for Students with Upgrades
A portion of the fee is needed to expand the vPC project beyond the current scope and provide
access to all students for all classes, on campus, online and at-a-distance. To provide access to
students’ personally owned devices, UConn must also extend the existing Microsoft Campus Agreement with a Student Option for licensing compliance. Included in the benefits of the
Campus Agreement Student Option is simple online access for students to download the latest
copies of Microsoft Office & Microsoft Windows at no additional cost.
Other Innovative IT Projects
As student demand for new technology initiatives present themselves, the University needs to
be able to respond in a manner to meet student expectations for IT services.
B. Impact on Programs if Requested Fee Adjustment is Denied: If this new fee proposal is not
approved students will need to continue purchasing Microsoft software products and upgrades
from retailers, we will not be able to fully implement the vPC roll-out, our wireless network
upgrades will move slower than demand warrants, our Library technology services will continue
to be less than optimal and we will not be in a position to entertain student led technology
initiatives.
C. Comparative Student Costs: The following chart was compiled from information reported by
other research universities to reflect the levels of student technology fees they are currently
charging students:
University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
University of Maryland
University of Nebraska
University of New Mexico
Oklahoma State University
University of Texas
Library /Tech Fee
Library/Tech Fee
Library/Tech Fee
Library fee
Library fee
Library fee
Library fee
$200/semester
$244/semester
$50/semester
$3/credit hour
$23/year
$13/credit hour
$12/credit hour
D. Student Involvement in Fee Revision: A hearing was held in April at the Storrs Campus. This
hearing was 2-way video conferenced to all regional campuses.