The members of the User Fee subcommittee in
2001-2002 were Vanessa Sifuentes, Dean Gerdeman, Matt Kaczmarek and Jacob
Littleton, with Lou Villadsen serving as ex oficio representative from the
Office of Academic Planning and Budget.
The committee met to revise the 1998 Policy on the Charging of User Fees
in Student Fee-Funded Programs in order to respond to changes in planning and
budgeting at the University.
The subcommittee worked to clarify the
distinction between fees charged for material used in coursework (course
materials fee) and user fees, which are charged for services or materials used
on a voluntary basis, and for which students are a significant portion of the
intended user group. The subcommittee
also worked to clarify special criteria for determining the appropriateness of
the User Fee Policy to particular fees.
For instance, administrative service charges, fines and forfeitures
charged by university departments are covered by this policy; however, fees
charged by the Housing Office and Parking and Transportation Services are not,
because these two deparments are part of self-funded, bonded systems that have
to comply with criteria set by bondholders.
Finally, the subcommittee clarified the processes for proposing new user
fees and reviewing established ones.
Its goal in this regard was to retain as much oversight as possible for
the University, while giving departments the flexibility to respond to changing
costs.
Further details of this discussion can be
found in the SFAC's new UCLA Student User Fee Policy.
Prepared by Jacob Littleton, June 2002