Printed on: 07/23/2024. Please go to policy.umn.edu for the most current version of the document.
University of Minnesota  Administrative Policy

Student Services Fee

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Policy Statement

The Student Services Fee (SSF) funds services and activities that enhance the student experience for the student body as a whole. SSF-funded programs and facilities foster a sense of community among students, support their health and wellbeing, provide them with engagement opportunities, and assist them with many challenges. The University recognizes that its educational mission is best served when students have the means and opportunity to engage in dynamic discussions and activities around a series of diverse topics both inside and outside of the classroom.

The Student Services Fee is assessed each term. The fee is mandatory for all students enrolled in a degree program and registered for six or more credits per semester or three or more credits per summer session. Students are charged the SSF to create “common goods” that are available to students who pay the fee. The SSF is not based on actual usage of services by an individual student or an individual student’s ability to access or interest in accessing a specific one of the array of SSF-funded services. Students who are not automatically assessed the SSF may have the option of paying the full fee if they wish to access the fee-related services. Post-secondary education option (PSEO), concurrent high school enrollment, Senior Citizen Education and the Regents Tuition Benefits students are not automatically assessed and may not opt in to the Student Services Fee. 

Each campus will develop and maintain a set of procedures for administering the SSF assessed to students under Board of Regents Policy: Tuition and Fees. SSF funds may not be used for partisan political purposes.

Each campus’s SSF administration procedures must include the following:

  • The establishment of a committee that will make recommendations to the appropriate campus leader on how the fee will be allocated. 
    • Committee membership must have a student majority. 
    • Student committee members must demonstrate payment of the SSF each semester of their appointment (excluding summer session). 
    • Committee selection process and expectations for committee members must be clearly defined. 
    • The committee will be supported by university staff.
  • A process for the creation of special assessments of the SSF for all students or for clearly defined classes of students.
  • Clear criteria and process for application for SSF funds and a process for how allocation recommendation decisions will be made.
  • Clear criteria and procedures for appeals of allocation recommendation decisions.
  • A requirement that any student group seeking SSF funds comply with the University’s Equal Opportunity Statement.
  • Guidelines for committee decision making that are consistently applied and are viewpoint neutral and reasonable. 

Reason for Policy

This administrative policy implements Section IV, subsection 3, in Board of Regents Policy: Tuition and Fees. It provides a framework for each campus to administer the Student Services Fee for the benefit of the campus and student body in a viewpoint-neutral and reasonable manner.

Contacts

Subject Contact Phone Email
Primary Contact Sara Carvell, Associate Director, Office for Student Affairs 612-625-8669 [email protected]

Campus Contacts

Campus Contact Phone Email
Crookston Dale Scully, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs 218-281-8505 [email protected]
Duluth Jeremy Leiferman, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Life 218-726-8501 [email protected]
Morris David Israels-Swenson, Senior Director, Student Engagement & Events 320-589-6080 [email protected]
Rochester Virginia Wright-Peterson, Vice Chancellor for Finance and Campus Resources 507-258-8009 [email protected]
Twin Cities Sara Carvell, Associate Director, Office for Student Affairs 612-625-8669 [email protected]
Responsible Individuals
Responsible Officer Policy Owner Primary Contact
  • Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
  • Assistant to the Vice Provost for Student Affairs
  • Heather McGinnis
    Assistant to the Vice Provost for Student Affairs

Definitions

Partisan Political Activities
Activities affiliated with a registered political party, candidates for election or ballot initiatives.
Viewpoint Neutrality
The constitutional principle of viewpoint neutrality obligates the University not to discriminate against or in favor of student groups or their messages on the basis of viewpoint when determining how to allocate SSF funds. The implementation of viewpoint neutral decision-making protects the First Amendment rights of all students. The University’s commitment to viewpoint neutrality extends to each campus’s committee established to make recommendations about the allocation of SSF funds. The committees may not make decisions based on a group’s viewpoint or committee members’ own personal agreement or disagreement with a group’s viewpoint.

Responsibilities

Chancellors
Ensure the establishment and administration of the Student Services Fee on their campus.
Vice President for Student Affairs
Coordinate the submission of Student Services Fee rates for recommendation to the Board of Regents by the President in the Annual Operating Budget. Assign human resources to administer the Students Services Fee on the Twin Cities campus.
Senior Student Affairs Officer, Crookston, Duluth, Morris and Rochester 
Assign human resources to administer the Students Services Fee on their campus.
Student Affairs Administrators
Implement the procedures for administration of the Student Services Fee, including establishing and convening a committee.

Related Information

History

Effective
July 2024. New Policy.
  1. The purpose of the administrative policy Student Services Fee is to outline the non-governance level elements of the Student Services Fee that are not addressed within the Tuition and Fees Board of Regents policy. The administrative policy provides rationale for the purpose of the fee, how and to whom it is assessed, identifies unallowable uses, and defines a set of common procedures that all campuses will utilize when administering the fee.
  2. The creation of this policy is taking place at the same time as review of the Board of Regents Policy: Tuition and Fees and Student Services Fee, which are being combined.
  3. The policy also provides a baseline, or minimum standard, for assessing the fee on all campuses in the system. This allows for consistency among campuses and in the experiences of students and departments who benefit from the funds.
  4. Beyond the baseline standard, campuses have the autonomy to determine procedures that work for their particular campus and student population.