Board of Regents of Higher Education

Michael Malone, President, MSU

Jared Harris, President, ASMSU

Process for Providing Student Input on New and/or Increased Fees

In response to a request from the Commissioner and the Board of Regents, administration and ASMSU at MSU-Bozeman met to develop a more regularized process for proposing, and receiving campus commentary on, new student fees or increases in fees that are currently in place. The primary objective of this process was to give members of the Board of Regents assurance that students had been given the opportunity to express their opinion on any fee that would directly effect them. Of special interest in this request were the individual course fees that have sometimes appeared on the Board agenda without the benefit of informed student comment.

In this process, it is assumed and accepted that ASMSU and its officers will be the representatives of student opinion on these matters to the campus administration and to the Board. Certainly, there will be persons who may provide written or verbal opinion on any given issue. We expect, though, that ASMSU will have gathered input from appropriate students and/or student groups prior to providing its opinion on a given proposal.

Beginning with proposals to add new fees or increase existing fees beyond levels currently authorized for FY2001, the following schedule will be followed:

• By December 15 of the year prior to the proposed effective date, all requests for new fees or increases to existing fees will be transmitted from appropriate college dean to the Provost for review or from the non-academic department head to the appropriate vice-president for review.
• By the first class day of Spring Semester in the year of the proposed effective date, the President's Office will transmit to the President of ASMSU, a list of fees that have been reviewed and approved for submission to the Board of Regents at its March meeting.

• By February 15 of the year of the proposed effective date the ASMSU President will utilize appropriate means to gather student input, confer with the administration, and transmit to the President of MSU, commentary on any of the proposals which would inform the deliberations of the Board.

• This commentary will be included as an attachment to the Fee Book that is mailed to Board members prior to its meeting in March in the year of the proposed effective date.
• At the March and May* meetings of the Board the ASMSU and MSU Presidents will be available for questions from and elaboration to the Board.